Oneiromancy
by crazy-dreams
Summary: Lorelai & Rory are back from Europe (betcha haven't heard that one before); Luke's engaged to Nicole and Lorelai isn't happy... in Luke's dreams, at least. **COMPLETE**
1. Default Chapter

Oneiromancy 

Author's note/Title explanation: I love learning new things. _Oneiromancy_ is the interpretation of dreams in order to tell the future. It comes from _oneiric,_ which means relating to dreams. If Luke and Lorelai were cats and electrodes were stuck in their brain, they would exhibit, _oneiric _behavior. That is, start acting out their dreams. Brain surgery, anyone? *g* 

Disclaimer: I have no claim to the characters or song lyrics that appear in this story. 

Part One 

_I see your shadow on the street now_

_I hear you push through the rusty gate_

_Click of your heels on the concrete_

_Waiting for a knock coming way too late_

_It seems an age since I've seen you_

_Countdown as the weeks trickle into days_

The bell on the diner door jingled, and he knew before even looking up that it was her.

"Luke!" Lorelai called excitedly, struggling in with three large backpacks.

Luke crossed the diner to help her dump the bags in a corner.

"Didn't you leave with only two of those things?" he asked.

"So we did some shopping." Hands now free, Lorelai pulled him into a hug. 

"How was Europe?" Luke asked after they pulled apart.

"Amazing. Coffee?" Lorelai asked hopefully, sliding into a chair.

Luke poured her a cup without argument. "Where's Rory?" he asked.

"Oh, I lost her somewhere around Amsterdam. The stuff they serve in cafes over there…" Lorelai trailed off and smirked at Luke's disapproving look. "Relax, Rory's at Lane's."

"Did your parents pick you up from the airport?"

"No, they were supposed to but two days ago my mother made the last minute decision to accompany my dad on an business trip. The woman's never made a spontaneous decision in her life and decides to start now. So anyway, we had to catch a cab," Lorelai explained.

"You could have called me, I would have picked you up. You didn't go home first?" Luke indicated to the bags.

"We were driving through town and Rory and I both yelled for the cab driver to stop. We couldn't wait to see everyone. So how have you been? How was the Love Boat?" Lorelai asked.

Before Luke could answer, Rory, Lane and Sookie burst though the door, all talking excitedly at once. Sookie and Lorelai hugged while Rory threw her arms around Luke. Surprised, he hugged her back, somewhat awkwardly.

"Did you have a good trip?" he asked her.

"The best," Rory replied with a grin. "The coffee was incredible."

"Too good to ever go back to mine?" Luke asked.

"Never," said Rory and Luke brought her a cup.

"Tell me everything!" Sookie demanded of Lorelai.

"You realize we're going to have to retell our stories every time we see someone new." Lorelai complained to Rory.

"And I know how much you hate talking about yourself," Rory teased her mother.

"You guys should have a slide night at Miss Patty's after one of the town meetings," Lane suggested. "That way you can talk to everyone at once, complete with visual aids."

"That's a great idea," said Lorelai.

"But of course you have to give your best friends the highlight's first. Right now," Sookie insisted.

"And the presents," Lane added.

"Where do we start?" Rory wondered.

"Hey, Luke, are you going to sit down?" Lorelai asked. "We tell great stories, but _War and Peace_ looks short in comparison."

"I have to get back to work," said Luke. "But welcome back." 

"Thanks, we'll catch up later," Lorelai replied brightly and quickly resumed talking and laughing with the girls.

_So you come in and put your bags down_

_I know there's something in the air_

_How can I do this to you right now?_

_You're over there when I need you here_

_My happiness is slowly creeping back_

_Now you're at home_

"Hey, Luke." Twenty minutes later, Lorelai appeared at the counter to pay for the ten cups of coffee she, Rory, Lane and Sookie had consumed. "How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it," Luke insisted. "Consider it your welcome home gift." 

"You didn't bring me a souvenir from your trip?" Lorelai asked. "I was hoping for a snow dome."

"Sorry, I'm not big on souvenirs," said Luke. "Plus, I'm learning the dating rules and figured it would be bad form to buy a present for another woman while I was away with Nicole."

Lorelai nodded. "Smart man."

"So you're finally heading home now?" he asked.

"Yep, to sleep for a couple of thousand years." Lorelai looked over to where Rory was practically falling asleep at the table.

"Uh, before you go, can I talk to you a minute? In private." Luke added.

"Sure." Lorelai followed him upstairs to the apartment. "What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you, before you heard something around the town... Nicole and I are engaged." Luke said, nervously shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"Oh." And unreadable look crossed Lorelai's face. "Congratulations," she said. 

An awkward pause followed until Lorelai spoke up again. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I thought you weren't going to propose?"

"I didn't. She did," Luke explained.

"Modern woman," Lorelai commented.

"Yeah."

"Well, that's great, right?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, Nicole's... great." Luke sounded anything but convinced.

"Okay, well I better get going," Lorelai said. "Pass my congratulations on to Nicole."

"I will," said Luke.

"Bye." Lorelai disappeared downstairs and Luke flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes.

_Control well it's slipping right though my hands_

_These days turned out nothing like I had planned_

When Luke woke up it was dark outside and someone was knocking on the apartment door.

"Hi," he greeted Lorelai. "I thought you were going home to sleep for a few million years?"

"Rory crashed as soon as we walked in the door, but I guess I must still be on UK time," Lorelai explained. "So I came here for something to eat, since we have nothing in the house but when I discovered Caesar was cooking I wasn't that hungry anymore."

"So you came up here to bug me to cook for you?" Luke guessed.

"No, I just thought I might as well say hi." 

"Well, come in," Luke offered.

Lorelai looked around this apartment. "Things look a little different," she commented.

"Nicole..." Luke began.

"Right. Wow. So. Big commitment there."

"I know," said Luke, nodding his head slightly.

"Where are you going to live?" Lorelai asked.

"What?" Luke asked. This sounded oddly familiar.

"Well I can't imagine Nicole living here," said Lorelai.

"I guess not," Luke admitted.

"And doesn't she work in New York?" Lorelai continued.

"Yes, but…"

"Are you going to move there?"

"Of course not. You're awfully concerned about this. Nicole and I will work things out." Luke said.  
  


"I don't think she's right for you," Lorelai blurted out.

Luke gave her a half curious, half hopeful look. "Why not?"

But Lorelai just turned and walked out the door.

"Wait, Lorelai..." Luke called after her.

…And then he woke up.

Lorelai had haunted his dreams constantly since Rory's graduation day. Luke was fairly sure he'd even woken up calling her name one night. Nicole hadn't said anything, but she'd been cold to him the next morning.

Checking the time, Luke groaned when he realized he'd left Caesar alone in the diner for over an hour. He quickly went into the bathroom to splash water on his face before heading back downstairs. Luke stopped and looked at his reflection as he toweled his face dry. _What are you doing?_

And it hurts me 

_To look into the mirror at myself_

_And it hurts even more_

_To have to be with somebody else_

Part two will be out soon; until then, please review.


	2. Ch 2

Author's note: 

Song used in the last chapter was _My Happiness _by Powderfinger, a band from my home town. And the bit at the end was from _Walk Away _by Ben Harper. This chapter lyrics are borrowed from Dashboard Confessional, _The Best Deceptions_ (even though the song drives me nuts); and Train, _Drops of Jupiter_; with Ben Harper again on the end.

Part two

_I heard about your trip _

_I heard about your souvenirs _

_I heard about the cool breeze _

_In the cool nights _

_And the cool guys _

_That you spent them with_

"And that concludes tonight's meeting." Taylor banged his gavel.

"And not a moment too soon," Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief.

"Amen to that." Luke turned around from where he and Nicole were sitting in the row in front of Lorelai and Rory. "I thought he was never going to get over that bit about introducing more squirrels to solve the problem of too many nuts lying around on the ground. Taylor is a nut."

"I heard he slipped on one," Lorelai said conspiratorially. "There's a great joke in there somewhere. Hi Nicole. Is this your first town meeting?"

"And quite possibly my last."

Luke and Nicole turned back to the front as Miss Patty took over from Taylor at the podium. "Thank you Taylor, dear. And now, for anyone who wishes to stay, we have a special treat, with our very own Lorelai and Rory Gilmore bringing us back a piece of Europe. Oh, it's so romantic; I remember when I was in Europe last. It was 1969, I was young and gorgeous…" 

As Miss Patty reminisced, Rory glanced around the room semi-nervously. "Why is everyone still here?" she asked Lorelai. "I'm sure we don't know half these people by name."

"Sure we do."

"Okay then, who's that guy over there in the yellow jacket?" Rory challenged.

"That's, erm, weird yellow jacket guy." 

"Hah!" Rory said triumphantly. "You have no idea who he is!"

"Sure I do. Everyone just _calls_ him Weird Yellow Jacket Guy. Like Eminem."

"What's his real name then?" Rory asked.

"Pete. His name is Pete," Lorelai answered confidently.

"You totally made that up," Rory accused.

"Well with the number of guys named Pete in this town I figure I have about a 30% chance of being right."

"Lorelai? Rory?" Miss Patty called.

Lorelai pushed Rory along. "Don't worry about the people, just get your cute little butt up the front."  
  


"Only if you promise to stop checking out my butt," Rory retorted as they moved down the aisle to the front of the room.

"But then how will I know which one of us has the better butt? I'll have to ask the good townspeople to vote."  
  


Rory didn't think that warranted a response and began setting up the equipment for the slide show.

"Wow, I get to stand behind the podium, I bet this is just killing you, huh Taylor?" Lorelai asked with a smirk.

"Don't break anything," Taylor grumbled. 

"I'll do my best," Lorelai said. "So, hi everyone. We missed you guys. Especially you, in the weird yellow jacket. What's your name?"

"Pete," the guy answered.

Lorelai shot Rory a triumphant grin.

"Save the victory dance for later," said Rory. "I'm ready."

"Okay, well thanks for all being so interested in our trip," Lorelai addressed the crowd once more. "We've gone high tech. Rory's somehow managed to connect my digital camera to her notebook and get the pretty pictures displayed up there. I have to warn you though, Rory took about 300 pictures of old churches, which after the first five or so really all look the same."

"Well mom took about 500 photos of cheese and various other edibles," Rory interjected.

"I wanted to show Sookie!" Lorelai defended herself. "Anyway, this is our trip. In kind of a random order."

The slide show began with a photo of Lorelai and Rory wearing berets with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

"That's the Eiffel Tower," Rory announced.

"In France," Lorelai added.

"Thanks, I never would have guessed," Luke said dryly.

"It looks like Disneyland," said Kirk.

"See," Lorelai poked her tongue out at Luke.

"You've never been to Disneyland." Luke said to Kirk.

Kirk looked like he was about to cry.

"His mom won't let him go past Hartford." Babette put an arm around Kirk. "Don't worry, Sugar, you'll make it there some day." 

"Ahem," Lorelai cleared her throat to regain the crowd's attention. "You're missing some of the best photos."

"That last one was of your shoe," Luke said.

"It was of the, um, soil in Southern France where they grow the grapes that make some heinously expensive French wine," Lorelai improvised.

"Hey, where's that?" Babette asked.

"That's Johnny Depp's place," said Lorelai.

"Either that or the local milkman's," said Rory. "We had some communication issues after Mom left our phrase book on a bus."

"I told you we should have learnt them before we left," Lorelai told her.

"Lorelai, Rory, honeys, who's the fox?" Miss Patty asked as the next photo of a tall, dark and handsome stranger appeared.

"That's Carlos, our Spanish pack horse," Lorelai explained as the pictures continued to flash by.

"And that's Roberto, our Italian one," said Rory. 

"He also made the best coffee in the world," Lorelai added, closing her eyes momentarily and smiling at the memory.  
  


How many times had she said that about his coffee? Luke wondered as a ridiculous pang of jealousy shot through him. He wasn't surprised Lorelai had made friends everywhere though; she brought a unique kind of fun to any situation. Although he wasn't planning on admitting it any time soon, Luke was glad the Gilmore girls were back. Life just wasn't the same without them around.

The next photo showed yet another young, good-looking guy. This time Lorelai was in the picture as well, sitting with him on the steps of a tour bus, posing in his Oakley sunglasses. 

"That's Jason, the Australian tour guide who let us join his group in Germany," Lorelai said.

"Oh Doll, you _did _have a good time," Miss Patty commented with at wink.

"And Rory didn't believe me when I said we'd find sexy European men to carry our bags and tell us how beautiful we are."

"You really **did** Europe, huh Lorelai?" Nicole chimed in.

Stung, Lorelai took a minute to respond. "Was that a really catty thing to say?" she whispered to Rory.

"Uh huh," Rory confirmed.

"Hold the fort," Lorelai said, walking over to Nicole. "You, me, outside, now," she hissed.

Nicole wordlessly followed Lorelai outside, leaving Luke wondering what he'd missed.

"This is at Santorini," Rory continued. "There's this myth about the Greek Islands…"

"What?" Nicole asked as she and Lorelai faced off on the steps outside.

Lorelai cut to the chase. "I don't appreciate the insinuation that I whored my way through Europe. I just wanted to tell you that now while I've go the anger thing going. If I waited until later I might have been distracted by those cheese photos."

"Look, I didn't mean anything by it," Nicole said defensively. "You don't have the monopoly on witty comments, you know."

"That wasn't witty, it was just nasty."

"I'm just trying to fit in to this town. So the locals can all talk whenever they want but I'm not allowed to say anything? Is that the way it works?" Nicole challenged.

"We don't bitch about each other."

"Hey," Luke joined the women outside just then. "What's going on?" 

"Nothing, Honey." Nicole looped her arm through his and looked pointedly at Lorelai.

"Yeah. We're done." Lorelai stalked back inside to help Rory fend off questions from Kirk about the training required to become a bullfighter.

"What was that about?" Luke asked Nicole.

"Nothing," she repeated.

"Coming back in?" 

Nicole shook her head. "I'd rather just go back to your place."

Luke agreed. He didn't really feel like seeing any more photos of Lorelai's 'sexy European men' right now. 

_Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star?_

_One without a permanent scar_

_And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?_

"I can't believe Luke's marrying someone who hates me," Lorelai complained to Rory over breakfast at the diner the next morning. "She'll probably make him change the entire menu to just salad so we'll never be able to eat here again."

"Luke wouldn't do that, he'd lose business," Rory said sensibly.

"What did I ever do to her, anyway?" Lorelai continued. "Merely existing is not a legitimate reason to resent me."

"I think it's obvious why she resents you."

"Huh?" Lorelai asked. 

"Starts with an L, ends with an E and has flannel in the middle?" Rory prompted.

"L'flannellee?"

"You know exactly what I mean! Ooh, don't turn around," warned Rory, "it's your new best friend." 

Lorelai looked over her shoulder to see Nicole coming down the stairs. She quickly turned back to Rory and pulled a face.

"Lorelai," Nicole called out.

Lorelai spun around guiltily and Nicole motioned her over.

Lorelai gave Rory a plaintive look. "Do I have to go, Mommy?"

"Be brave and I'll buy you an ice cream later."  
  


Lorelai reluctantly approached the counter. Who did Nicole think she was, standing behind the counter like that, as if she owned the place? It wasn't like she was making herself useful by actually _working_ or anything. "Hi Nicole." 

"Lorelai, I'm glad you're here. Hey, do you want some coffee? On me," Nicole offered. "I hear you're a fan."

"I'm good." Lorelai gestured to the table where her half-full cup sat, but Nicole was already pouring another one. Lorelai immediately regretted her previous thought that Nicole should be working; it just didn't seem _right_ to watch her serve Luke's coffee.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about last night. I'm not usually that bitchy, really." Nicole said as she handed Lorelai the coffee. 

"Oh, well, apology accepted," Lorelai replied. Far be it from her to hold a grudge, especially when there was free coffee involved.

"You're Luke's friend, so I'd like for us to be friends too," Nicole continued.

_Maybe if you didn't have such an attitude problem,_ Lorelai thought. "Uh, okay. We seem to have gotten off to a bad start. Luke mentioned that I was a sore point between you and him and I don't want to be."

"When did Luke talk to you about this?" Nicole asked, her friendly demeanor fading.

"Oh, this was ages ago," Lorelai dismissed. "The night I stayed over and…" she stopped, noticing the look on Nicole's face. "Oops, you don't know about that. Okay, I think I'm going to say thanks for the coffee and go eat my breakfast before I make things any worse."  
  


Nicole nodded. "Good plan." She turned her back on Lorelai and walked purposefully into the kitchen. "Luke!" 

Lorelai winced as she returned to her table.

"What did she want?" Rory asked immediately.

"To be friends."

"Really?"

"She apologized and everything."

"I wonder if Luke told her to?"  
  


Lorelai shook her head. "I don't think he knew anything was going down. Although if he did put her up to it he's going to regret it now."

Lorelai and Rory watched as Nicole stalked out of the kitchen with Luke close behind.

Luke shot Lorelai a look that said 'what did you do?'

_Sorry_ Lorelai mouthed back.

"Someone's in trouble," Rory commented.  
  


Luke and Nicole exchanged a couple more hushed words, then she headed back upstairs to the apartment and Luke walked over to Lorelai and Rory's table.

"Have a nice chat with Nicole?" he asked Lorelai.

"Sorry, Luke," Lorelai apologized. "I have this problem with talking…"

"I've noticed," Luke said wryly. "It's not a big deal, it's just, you know, Nicole's a little touchy when it comes to you. Plus I think she doesn't know how to fit into the town. Although why someone would _want_ to fit into this crazy town is pretty much beyond me."

"Well I still feel bad. Hey why don't you and Nicole come over for dinner tonight?" Lorelai suggested. "I'll invite Sookie and Jackson as well so Nicole can get to meet some more people."

"Okay, that would be nice," Luke agreed. "I'll just go check with Nicole."

"If you don't bring more coffee, don't bother coming back," Lorelai called after him.

"That was nice," Rory said approvingly to Lorelai. 

"Better watch out, I might steal your halo," Lorelai warned. "Then whack Nicole over the head with it."

"She doesn't really hate you, she's just a jealous." Rory analyzed the situation.

"_She's_ jealous?"

"What, _you're_ jealous?" Rory arched her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I am a little jealous. Nicole's a big part of Luke's life, and that means less room for me. I mean, I won't be able to ask him to fix so much stuff around the house. We'll have to hire Kirk to do it, and last time he wore those short shorts - not a pretty sight."

"Your friendship with Luke doesn't have to change," Rory said. "Maybe you and Nicole will even end up being friends. You like Rachel, remember?"

"Yeah, but-" Lorelai broke off when Luke returned, coffeepot in hand.

"Nicole can't make it tonight, she has to go back to the city," he said.

"Oh, that's too bad." Lorelai tried her hardest to sound sincere. "But we'd love for you to come anyway."  This time she had no problem with sincerity.

"Okay," Luke agreed to dinner.

"Great. Around seven?"

"See you then." Luke went to serve another customer.

"Ugh, I'm gonna be late for my first day back at work." Lorelai realized, taking a final sip of coffee. "Let's go."

"Thanks for letting me borrow your car to visit Grandma and Grandpa today," Rory said.

"I still say it's a big conspiracy that their trip was cut short and _suddenly_ they return the day after us. It was an elaborate plot by my mother to avoid picking us up from the airport."

"Why would she want to avoid that?"

"I don't know, like I said, it's a conspiracy. Logic need not be involved."

"I'll say. Welcome to the I'm-not-paranoid-who-says-I-am? club."

"There's a club? Is there a badge with that slogan on it?" Lorelai asked as she followed Rory out the door.

* * * * 

"Knock knock," Luke called, entering the Gilmore house via the kitchen door that night.

"Hey, come in," Lorelai greeted him. "Sookie and Jackson already had plans so it's just the three of us."

"Hey, mom, is it still okay if Lane and I go to the movies tonight?" Rory called from her bedroom.

"Sure, Honey. Hey, where does her mom think you're going?"

"Public forum on the evils of popular culture," Rory replied as she emerged from her room. "Hi, Luke, welcome to a Gilmore family dinner." 

"Pizza on the couch?" Luke guessed.

"Close, Chinese. But in honor of your presence, we ordered vegetables and intend on eating at the kitchen table."

Lorelai began clearing the table while Rory unpacked the takeaway containers. "Are we using plates?" she asked her mom.

"Hush, child. Can't have our guest thinking we're barbarians. We always use plates. And cutlery. And we never eat whipped cream straight out of the can for breakfast."

Luke practically turned green at the thought. "Can I help you with anything?" he asked.

"Sure, just transfer this mess from the table to the bench over there. Or the floor, or basically wherever there's a free space," said Lorelai.

"So what is all this stuff? Groceries?" asked Luke, moving a bag filled with toothpaste. 

"We're still unpacking," Rory explained. "Mom discovered they sell toothpaste in Europe and stocked up. So in addition to the three tubes she took with her, she collected another seven along the way."

"It's yummy! And you weren't complaining when you were starving on the train from Prague."

"You ate toothpaste?" Luke asked.

"Starving," Lorelai repeated. "Famished."

"Ravenous," Rory added. 

"Hey, here's one of your presents." Lorelai tossed Luke a plastic bag.

"You didn't have to get me anything." Luke opened the bag and pulled out a baseball cap with _London _printed on the front. 

"We got you one from every city we went to," Lorelai said proudly. "An entire European collection of what I assume to be an American invention."

"Except in Milan where we couldn't find one," Rory said regretfully. "Apparently they have too much style for tacky souvenirs." 

"But the one from Dublin has Leprechauns drinking pints of Guinness on it," said Lorelai. "It's the best."

"You don't have to wear it in public," Rory assured Luke. She finished setting the food on the table and the three sat down to eat. "Oh, we got deep fried ice cream!" Rory took two scoops before passing the container along. "You want some Luke?" 

He looked at it suspiciously. "Sounds unhealthier than normal ice cream. And shouldn't it be for dessert?"

"We have to eat it first or the ice cream will melt."

"Put it in the freezer," Luke suggested.

"You have obviously never had deep-fried ice cream before." Lorelai said it as though it were a serious personality flaw.

"The outside is warm, it would go all soggy in the freezer," Rory explained.

"You have to try it." Lorelai tried to feed Luke some ice cream. 

He responded by spearing a piece of broccoli and waving it towards her. "Eat this first."

"Never."

"Right back at you."  
  


Rory watched as Lorelai's spoon full of ice cream fought with Luke's broccoli laden fork. This was not going to end well. 

Just then there was a knock on the door. "That'll be Lane, I'll get it." Rory jumped up.

"You're contaminating my ice cream," Lorelai complained.

"Well you're contaminating my broccoli." 

Luke and Lorelai continued to play-fight with their cutlery until both items of food fell to the table with a splat.

"Look what you did," Luke and Lorelai accused each other at exactly the same time.

"You have to feed me," Lane begged as she followed Rory into the kitchen. "Dinner in the Kim household tonight consisted of carrot flavored tofu. Why would you make a meat substitute taste like a vegetable? Why?" 

"We have ice cream covered broccoli," Rory offered.

Lane looked at the mess on the table between Luke and Lorelai. "Tempting."

"Grab a plate and help yourself," Lorelai told Lane.

The meal was full of animated chatter and good-natured teasing and Luke loved the atmosphere. Even with Nicole around, things at his apartment seemed too quiet sometimes now Jess was gone. But the moment was short-lived. Rory and Lane ate quickly as they were anxious to make the movie, Luke ate quickly because he wasn't the type to waste time, and Lorelai ate quickly because, well, she always did.

"Thanks for dinner," Lane said to Lorelai and stacked her plate by the sink while Rory grabbed her purse and jacket.

"Bye, Luke, bye Mom." 

"Bye girls, have fun. And remember, don't talk to strangers unless they're really hot, and then only if they're driving a convertible."

"Because it's a cooler car?" Lane questioned.

"No, easier to escape from."

After the girls left, Luke began clearing off the table.

"Leave it for the maid." Lorelai said languidly.

"You don't have a maid," Luke reminded her.

"Leave it for the fairies, then. Luke, you're not at work tonight. Sit back down," Lorelai ordered.  
  


Luke sat down but kept looking at the leftovers on the table and fidgeting. "I keep thinking a customer is going to complain that their table hasn't been bussed," he admitted. 

"Come on," Lorelai pulled Luke up, led him into the living room and pushed him down onto the couch. "Sit there and relax," she said sternly.

Luke looked up at her. "I missed you," he said suddenly. "But you're still the same."

"Yep, no foreign body piercings here." Lorelai flopped down on the couch next to him.

"Did you really miss us all?" Luke asked, unsure of why it mattered so much to him.

"What's to miss about Stars Hollow?" Lorelai asked jokingly.

_Now that she's back in the atmosphere _

_I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane_

_Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly_

_So he never did land_

"…by this stage we tired, wet, hungry and absolutely sick to death of new languages, so we ended up doing the ignorant American thing and the stuck up guy refused to serve us! Then we put on these really _bad_ accents - like Dracula, I vaaant to zuck your blood," Lorelai demonstrated, "and _suddenly_ he understood perfectly what we were trying to say. I think he was Michel's long lost twin." An hour later, Luke and Lorelai were still sitting on the couch. She had been entertaining him with stories from Europe. "Anyway, tell me about your trip. I've been blabbing about mine all night."

"It's interesting," Luke assured her. "And I don't really have any stories."

"Well at least tell me about you and Nicole. How did that happen?" asked Lorelai.

Luke shrugged. "She said we should get married, I didn't know what to say so I said yes."

"Okay, you cannot use that in your wedding speech."  
  


Luke gave a short laugh.

"Maybe it's just a Luke thing, but you don't seem excited about the engagement."

"I don't do excited."

"It's more than that, you don't seem…" Lorelai trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Happy?" Luke suggested.

"I was going to say sure. You're not happy?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm not sure," said Luke.

"If you're not happy?" Lorelai asked.

"Huh? Are you trying to confuse me again?"

"You started it by interrupting me."

"You left a pause, I have to take every opportunity in a conversation with you."

"I'm not that much of a monopolist, am I?" Lorelai asked.

"No-" Luke began.

"Really?" Lorelai cut him off.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Where were we?"

"I was asking – in a perfectly logical manner – whether you were not sure about marrying Nicole, not happy about marrying Nicole, or not sure if you were happy?"

"When I asked Nicole out, it wasn't supposed to go this far." Luke tried to explain.

"Then why did you ask her out?"

"Because I was tired of waiting."

Lorelai didn't ask what he was waiting for.

"I mean, it's not that I don't like her, but I like baseball and that doesn't mean I want to marry it." Luke was suddenly in rant mode. "What was I thinking? I can't get married!" 

"Already married?" Lorelai asked.

"No."

"Secretly belong to a cult that prohibits it?"

"No."

"Then why not?" 

"I'm not ready. Not now. Not with Nicole."

"You don't want to marry Nicole?"

"I don't know. Maybe in a year. I just never expected the relationship to go so far so fast. Then suddenly you're pushing me to go on the cruise and now I'm engaged!"

"So this is all my fault?" Lorelai asked.

"No. Yes. Ugh."

"Luke, calm down," Lorelai placed a hand on his arm. "You're probably just nervous. I felt the same way when Max and I got engaged."

"You didn't marry Max."

There was a long pause.

"No, I didn't," Lorelai finally said softly.

"Why not?" Luke asked, just as quietly.

"I didn't love him. Enough. That way. I could just _feel_ that something wasn't right." 

She didn't ask if he loved Nicole and they lapsed into silent contemplation. 

"Okay, here's my advice," Lorelai said finally. "Trust your instincts. But not too much. Don't let your gut scare you off from something that could be really great."

"Thanks, that's very helpful. Clears things up a lot."

"I am the relationship guru. And I have the coffee mug to prove it."

Luke smiled and shook his head slightly. "I should get home, it's late."

"Yeah." Lorelai walked him to the door.

"Thanks," Luke said to her. "Your advice pretty much sucked, but thanks for listening." 

"You've done it often enough for me," Lorelai replied.

Luke nodded. "Night," he reached out and patted her upper arm in a typical Luke display of affection.

"Hey Luke?" Lorelai called just before she closed the door behind him. "I missed you too."

Luke smiled again. "Good."

But you put the happy 

_In my ness_

_You put the good times_

_Into my fun_

_* * * _

Woah, long chapter. I'm really starting to like this fic. You know what else I like? Reviews. *hint hint*


	3. Ch 3

Oneiromancy

Part Three

The breakfast crowd had just left and Luke was standing behind the counter with his back to the diner, filling out an order form.

"Boo," a soft voice whispered in his ear. Slim arms wrapped around his waist and hugged him from behind.

_Please don't let this be another Lorelai dream,_ Luke thought as he turned around to face the owner of the arms.

"Hi," Nicole gave Luke a peck on the cheek.

"Hi," he responded, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too," Nicole replied, only half teasingly.

"I mean, shouldn't you be at work?" Luke asked.

"I took the morning off. I felt like seeing my fiancé," said Nicole with a smile, taking a seat at the counter. "I tried calling you last night."

"Oh, I had dinner at Lorelai's, remember? You must have called then." 

"I tried calling until 11:30."

Luke didn't respond.

"I'm not trying to check up on you or anything," Nicole said quickly.

"Do you not like Lorelai?" Luke asked bluntly. "Because you know she's a friend of mine."

"I guess I'm just a little jealous. I miss having you all to myself now that she's back."

"Don't be jealous." Was all Luke said.

Nicole let the subject drop. "Let's do something fun this morning, just the two of us," she suggested.

"I can't, I have to work. Caesar doesn't start until 11 today." 

Nicole looked momentarily put off. "That's okay, you didn't know I was coming." She said and checked her watch. "What the hell, I'm here now, may as well take the whole day off. If I hang around will you have lunch with me at least?"

"Of course."

"Great," Nicole pulled out her cell phone. "I'm gonna go call the office, then maybe explore the town a little."

"Should take you all of five minutes."

"I'll see you soon then."  
  


Luke turned back to his orders after Nicole left, only to hear another "boo" in his ear a couple of minutes later.

"I told you the exploration would be short." Luke turned around, expecting to see Nicole again.

"What exploration?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shook his head. "Nothing, I thought you were Nicole."

"I can be Nicole."

_What did she mean by that?_ Luke wondered.

"I can be Nicole if it would help me get a cup of coffee," Lorelai clarified.

_Oh._ "Nope, no coffee for you, whoever you want to be."

"But we don't have a kitchen at the Inn," Lorelai whined, "I came all the way here to get some coffee, and I only have like five minutes before I'm supposed to meet contractors at the Dragonfly."

Luke remained passive behind the counter. "This is me not caring."

"Please, Luke?"

"Nope."

"But I can see it right there, tempting me with it's rich, dark, flavorsome goodness."

"That coffee's reserved."

"For who?"

"Someone who hasn't already had five cups this morning."

"Pretty please?" Lorelai tried again, one step away from begging.

"Nope." A smile began to form on Luke's face. 

"You're enjoying this torture way too much," Lorelai complained. "Hey would it help if I said the magic phrase?"

"It can't hurt."

"Oooh baby, give it to me goooood."

"What?"

"Hmm, wrong phrase huh?"

"I officially do NOT want to know which business you regularly frequent where that would be the RIGHT phrase," Luke declared.

Lorelai winked. "Sure you do, I'll tell you if you give me some coffee." 

Curiosity almost got the better of Luke, but he knew she was just messing with him, so he continued his refusal.

"What's the correct magic coffee phrase, then?" Lorelai asked.

"Coffee is addictive and will destroy my internal organs, leading to an early death."  
  


Lorelai dutifully repeated the phrase without meaning a word of it. "Just like cigarettes," she added cheerfully at the end.

"And it stains your teeth," Luke warned as he reluctantly handed her a cup to go.

Lorelai bared her teeth at him. "Peroxide, baby." She took a sip. "Mmm, thanks Luke, love your work," she said before disappearing out the door with a wave.

 * * * * 

"I'm bored," Lorelai announced to Rory as they ate dinner at Luke's that night. 

"We can go rent _Moulin Rouge_ after dinner," Rory suggested. "I'll even let you sing along and act out the death scene."

"Good start, but this is more a general boredom," Lorelai said. "Things at the Independence Inn are winding up, and there's nothing I can really _do_ at the Dragonfly yet, after making sure all the trades people are doing their thing. Hey, what do you do all day?" 

"Well yesterday I visited Grandma and Grandpa; today I helped Lane out at bible camp in the morning, then started to clear the junk out of my closet in preparation for Yale packing; I've read three books in the past two days…"

Lorelai dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "Still too boring. I need a project." 

"Oh, no," Rory groaned at the thought of another unfinished Lorelai project. "Nothing involving perishables," she instructed.

"This has to be something fun. I could ask Taylor if we could organize another festival."

"Because we don't have nearly enough of those." 

"I could paint the kitchen." Lorelai suggested.

"You've been saying that for six years," Rory pointed out.  
  


"Well speaking of stuff that needs doing around the house, I have to ask Luke to fix the porch step," Lorelai remembered.  
  


"That's a project?"

"No, but I have to ask him before he gets married."

"Before he gets married?" Rory repeated questionningly.

"Yeah. Anything you want doing, better get in quick."  
  


"Have they even set a date yet?" Rory wondered.

Lorelai frowned slightly. "I don't know – oh, that's it! Call off the dogs, stop looking everyone, I've found it." Lorelai raised her hands in triumph. "I have found my latest project."  
  


"You're going to fix the porch yourself?" Rory guessed.

"I'm bored, not insane. Nope, and this is something I can't drop mid-project either."

"Well what is it?" 

"An engagement party! For Luke and Nicole."

Before Rory could respond, Lorelai jumped up and ran to the counter.

"Hey Luke, how about a swap?" she proposed.

"Your currency for my services? 'Cause that's pretty much the way things work around here."

"Dirty!"

"_Cooking_ services."

"I was thinking of a different kind of Luke services. The kind rendered with the aid of a big toolbox…" Lorelai trailed off with a suggestive grin.

Luke rolled his eyes. "You never stop, do you? Cut to the chase."

"You fix my porch step and I'll throw you an engagement party."  
  


"How about I fix your porch step in exchange for you _not_ throwing me an engagement party?"  
  


"Come on, Luke, you have to have one. We'll invite the whole town, except the people you can't stand to be in the same room with for more than five minutes, which will basically just leave me and Rory."

Luke gave her a look.

"Or maybe just Rory. Hey is Nicole upstairs?"

"No."

"Liar, I just saw her go up there five minutes ago." 

Lorelai jogged up the stairs to the apartment with Luke close behind.

"Hey, Nicole?" Lorelai called, knocking on the apartment door.

"Don't bring her into this," Luke groaned.

"Into what?" Nicole asked as she opened the door.

"One of Lorelai's crazy schemes," Luke said.  
 

"Throwing you an engagement party is not a crazy scheme! What do you think Nicole?"

Nicole appeared surprised at the offer, but recovered to accept graciously. "Thank you, Lorelai, that sounds lovely."

"It'll be easy," Lorelai continued. "Too bad about the Inn, but we'll set up a bar at Miss Patty's and maybe have a sit down meal here at the diner. Candles! White tablecloths!"

Nicole looked at her strangely, but Luke was accustomed to Lorelai's thought processes. He took her by the shoulders and pointed her in the direction of the stairs. "Sounds good, go tell Rory all about it."

"Not this weekend, but the next one," Lorelai yelled over her shoulder as she made her way back down to the diner.

"Sorry," Luke said to Nicole.

"Why are you apologizing? I think it's great, really nice of Lorelai. She is a good friend to you. I mean, considering…"

"Considering what?" Luke asked.

Nicole shrugged. "Whatever was between you in the past. It's nice that she still values your friendship and is supportive of our marriage." 

"There has never been anything between us, I swear, Nicole," Luke insisted.

"It's okay if there was, Luke, I know I'm the one you're with now. Anyway, I'm excited about this party. We haven't really done anything as a couple yet and I'll get to meet more people in this town." 

"That you may live to regret," Luke warned. 

"It'll be fun," Nicole declared.

_Big fun_, Luke thought, wondering what had possessed Lorelai to make such an offer. "Not you too," he groaned to Nicole.

"Yes, you big grouch," Nicole said affectionately. "You better get back to work."

"You okay up here alone?" Luke asked, feeling slightly ridiculous. Nicole appeared fine; he was the one who was uncomfortable with her being alone in his apartment.

"I'm working on something," Nicole said mysteriously. "I'll show you later on."

"Okay. If you get hungry, you know where to find me."

 * * * * 

Bang bang bang 

Lorelai came home on Friday afternoon to discover Luke hammering on her porch step.

"Hey," she said to him. "Can I get inside?"

"Sure, I'm just about finished." Luke stood back and dusted off his hands on his jeans.

Lorelai hopped gracefully over the newly repaired step and opened the front door. "I'll be back in a sec." 

True to her word, Lorelai returned a moment later with a beer in each hand. "You deserve one of these after that manly display," she said, taking a seat on the newly repaired step. 

"Thanks," Luke took the beer and sat down beside her.

"This looks stable once more," Lorelai commented.  
  


"Yep." 

They sipped their beer silently, staring into the front yard.

"Do you what the chuppa back?" Lorelai asked suddenly.

"No," Luke said quickly. "I made it for you."

"You made it for my wedding. So unless you believe the rumors about Brad and Jen breaking up it doesn't look like I'll be using it anytime soon. It seems a shame for all that effort to go to waste."

Luke shifted his gaze to the spot in the yard where the chuppa sat. "It looks good there," he said. "Besides, Nicole and I aren't Jewish and I don't think it's exactly what she had in mind for our wedding. I have this horrible feeling that she's planning something extravagant."

"Yeah?" 

"The other night she filled the apartment with hundreds of bridal magazines trying to find the perfect combination. And she wants my opinion on everything," Luke complained.

"That's good, isn't it?" Lorelai asked.  
  


"But I don't _care_ whether the table settings are roses or carnations. I can't even believe she's going into table setting detail when we haven't even set a date yet."

Lorelai patted him on the back. "Lucas, my friend, you have a lot to learn. Nicole's a woman, this wedding is going to be one of the most important days of her life."

"Way to lay on the pressure."

"I'm sure she just wants everything to be perfect. Just be supportive and go along with whatever she wants," Lorelai frowned slightly. "Unless its dancing midgets or Chinese acrobats."

"What?'

"Don't let her near my mother and you'll be fine."

Luke gave her a slightly bemused look. "Right."

"Have you ever thought about your wedding day?" Lorelai asked him. "I mean, before you even met Nicole. Just generally?"

"No," Luke gave the succinct, male response.

"Really?" Lorelai prodded. 

"Okay, that's not exactly true. Rachel and I talked about it once," Luke confessed.

"About getting married?"

"Yeah, not so much about the marriage part, just about what we wanted out wedding to be like. We both agreed – simple, outdoors in the spring."  
  


"Sounds nice," Lorelai said softly.

"What about you?" Luke asked.

"Sure, I thought about it."

"With Max?" 

"Nah, I couldn't really get into that. But when Rory was little I used to daydream about what it would be like if I had married Christopher," Lorelai admitted. "But I think it was mostly for Rory's sake. The most important part was what she would be wearing as the flower girl." She paused, and then continued softly. "I know Chris and I were too young to get married, but I used to wonder if I did the wrong thing, not providing Rory with a father figure." Lorelai looked over at Luke. "But then I realized, she had you."

"Me?" Luke blinked. "No, you did an amazing job with Rory all by yourself. I was just the guy who should have been arrested for serving coffee to a ten year old."

"It was so much more than that, Luke," Lorelai said seriously. "You have always looked out for Rory, I hope you know how much that means to me." 

Luke was touched, but slightly embarrassed. "It's not like I helped raise her or anything. I never even babysat," he downplayed.

"You did once," Lorelai recalled.

~*~*~*~*~

Luke wiped down the counter ferociously. He was grumpy, which wasn't uncommon, but this time he had a better reason than usual - Rachel had just left for a year in South America. 

The bell on the diner door jingled and Luke looked up, ready to snap as the latest customer let a blast of cold air into the diner. But his mood mellowed immediately on seeing the Gilmore girls. The outgoing young mother and her daughter had smiles that melted hearts all over town.

However Lorelai didn't have a smile for him today. "Coffee please," she ordered weakly.

She looked about as dejected as he felt.

"You looked bummed," Luke commented as he poured her coffee. He and Lorelai weren't exactly friends, but they talked whenever she came into the diner, which was fairly often.

She shrugged. "It's nothing, really. I was supposed to have my first date in months tonight, but my babysitting arrangements fell though."

Luke knew Lorelai well enough to know that she was completely devoted to Rory and wouldn't hesitate to cancel her date to stay with her daughter. But he felt a rush of sympathy toward this woman who, at 23, was still so young, yet worked incredibly hard to provide for her daughter. She deserved a break, and one date seemed like such a small thing to ask for.

"I can watch Rory if you want." Luke found himself offering tentatively. This was crazy; he knew nothing about kids. 

Lorelai sensed his trepidation. "It's Friday night, I'm sure you have plans."

"Nope, and it's shaping up to be a slow night here." 

"You know I don't think I've ever seen you outside the diner, are you sure you aren't trapped here by some mystical force field?" Lorelai teased. 

"Maybe I am," Luke said mysteriously with a raise of his eyebrows. "But I'm serious about watching Rory."

"Are you sure it won't be any trouble?" asked Lorelai.

"It's fine, really," Luke assured her.

"Okay," Lorelai turned to her daughter. "What do you say, Rory? Want to hang here with Luke tonight?"

Rory nodded and smiled at him shyly.

"Thank you," Lorelai said gratefully, and cracked a smile for Luke.

 * *

Rory was an angel. She sat quietly in corner and read all night, only once asking for a bowl of ice cream with extra chocolate sprinkles. After Luke closed up, he made his way over to the table where Rory sat, wondering what on earth he should talk to her about.

"How was the ice cream?" he asked nervously.

Rory looked up from her book. "Good, thank you," she responded politely.

"Good." Luke nodded. "Whatcha reading?" 

"_The Voyage of the Dawn Trader_," she replied solemnly.

"Narnia, huh? How old are you?" Luke asked.

"Six."  
  


Luke was impressed. Six, what as that, first grade? Didn't kids just start to learn their ABC's then? "Good book?" he asked.  
  


"It scares me sometimes," Rory admitted. "I forget it isn't real." She carefully folded one of the pages down to mark her place in the book before setting it aside. "Do you have cards?" 

"Sure. Do you want to play go fish or something?" Luke asked, retrieving a deck from behind the counter.

"Poker."

"You play poker?" Another surprise. Maybe kids were easier to relate to than he'd realized.

"Mommy taught me."  
  


Of course. 

They played until Rory fell asleep at the table. Luke was just covering her with a blanket when the door jingled.

"Hi," Lorelai said.

Luke stepped back quickly, not wanting Lorelai to think she'd left her daughter with some kind of pervert. 

But Lorelai was smiling at the sight of Luke parenting Rory. All her instincts told her he was a good guy. "Any problems?" she asked.

"Nope, she's a great kid. Good poker player too."

Lorelai mock gasped as she sat down at the table. "You involving my daughter in illegal gambling?"

"It was her suggestion. So how was your date?" Luke asked, sitting down as well.

Lorelai shrugged. "Good until the end when he asked me to come back to his place and I said I had to pick up my daughter."

"What happened then?" Luke felt a surge of protectiveness flow through him.

"He recovered well from the shock to give me a polite 'I had a good time, I'll call you,' which of course will never happen."

"Jerk," Luke said.

"I'm used to it. I'm more mad at myself," Lorelai said. "Rory's the most important thing in my life, yet I avoided mentioning her until the end of the date. I'm not ashamed of my beautiful girl." She brushed a strand of hair off Rory's face.

Luke didn't quite know how to respond, but there appeared to be no need.

"Anyway, I should get this one home to bed." Lorelai pushed back her chair and Luke stood up also. "Thanks so much for looking after her. You're a sweetie." Lorelai stood on tiptoes to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. 

Luke blushed. "Do you want me to help you get her home?" he offered.

Lorelai scooped Rory up with a grunt. "It's okay, I'm used to it."

"Mommy?" Rory stirred.

"Hey, baby, we're going home. Say good night to Duke."  
  


"Good night, Duke." As they left the diner, Rory waved to Luke over Lorelai's shoulder before her eyes drooped closed again. 

~*~*~*~*~

Lorelai regretted that that moment, so simple, yet so meaningful at the time, had lain dormant in her memory for so many years. "We've known each other a long time, haven't we?" 

"We have," Luke replied thoughtfully. They had drifted through varying degrees of closeness over the years, and he now knew her friendship was one of the few things he could depend on in his life.

"So has there been a discussion?" Lorelai asked. 

Luke gave her a quizzical look.

"With Nicole. About kids?"

"Oh, no. I don't even know if she wants them," said Luke.

"Well I think you'd be a better father than you give yourself credit for," Lorelai told him.

"And you're a great mother."

"What is this, the mutual admiration society?" Lorelai asked, lightening the mood. "This is beginning to resemble a Hallmark moment."

"We can't have that. I better get back in time for the dinner rush." Luke stood up. "Will I see you at the diner later?" 

"Friday night dinner with the parents," Lorelai reminded him.

"Right. Have a good night." 

"You too." Lorelai remained on the step watching Luke walk away and finished her beer, deep in thought.

* * * *


	4. Ch 4

Oneiromancy

Part 4

"It's a miracle!" Lorelai declared.

"It is not," Luke insisted.

"No, really, I think the Earth just rotated backward on its axis, hell froze over and, hey, look at that pig flying through the sky!" Lorelai pointed to a spot above Luke's head.

Luke leveled his gaze at her. "Stop it. It's no big deal."

"Of course, you're right, this is no _big_ deal, this is a _massive_ deal. Quick, where's Kirk with his camera? We need the photo for the tomorrow's front page, I already have the headline: _Luke Danes: Lord of the Dance._"

Luke dropped his head to Nicole's shoulder. "Do you think if I close my eyes she'll disappear?" he asked. Luke wouldn't exactly call what he was doing dancing. He was just kind of holding his fiancée and shuffling around as music played in the background. It was their engagement party, he figured it was expected. But Lorelai was carrying on as though he was running through the town square with his pants on his head. Were you supposed to wander up to people and carry on conversations while they danced? he wondered. Standing at the edge of the dance floor, Lorelai was now chatting with Nicole about creative ways to prevent Miss Patty from consuming any more alcohol. Luke realized that the one good thing about Lorelai planning this engagement party was that it seemed to have curbed Nicole's jealousy and the two women were now exhibiting the early signs of friendship. 

Nicole took a step back and extracted herself from Luke's loose hold. "I'm gonna get a drink, do you want anything, Sweetie?" she asked.

"I'll come with you," he said, anxious to get off the dance floor.

"No you don't, I'll never get you back out here. Lorelai, look after him for me, won't you?" Nicole asked.

"Sure." Lorelai took Luke's arm. As Nicole weaved her way through the crowd, Lorelai placed one hand on Luke's shoulder and flattened the palm of her other against his. Luke gave in, smoothly clasping her delicate hand in his larger one and curving an arm around her waist. They fit together perfectly. 

"Wow, you really know how to hold a woman," Lorelai commented, sounding surprised. "Most guys are either really awkward and hold you like you're back in 6th grade ballroom dancing lessons, or else they're all over you. I figured you'd be in the first category, but it turns out you're neither."

"What am I then?" Luke asked.

"You are in the rare third category - a man who can dance. You may not have the footwork or the flashy moves, but you have the hold. Firm, yet gentle. Sexy, the way dancing should be."

"Sexy, huh?" Luke asked lightly, expecting an easy quip in reply.  
  


But Lorelai appeared serious. "Yeah. You're wasted on Nicole." She shimmied a little closer to him.  
  


"Are you drunk?" 

"Nope, just honest. Finally." Lorelai stroked Luke's neck, just above his collar, then trailed a finger along his clean-shaven jaw line.

Luke felt trapped, desperately unsure of what to do. Was she serious? Why was she doing this to him now? And what was that incessant ringing?

Luke looked around, hoping to place the sound, and noticed Nicole making her way back toward them with the drinks. He quickly pulled away from Lorelai.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked.

"It's Nicole," Luke croaked. 

"Who?"

"Nicole," he repeated, more clearly.

"Wake up, Luke." A cool hand brushed his forehead.

"Nicole?"

"You were dreaming," Nicole said gently.

"Aw, Jeez." Luke rubbed his hands over his face. "Ahh, what did I…?"

"You just mumbled a little; something about dancing pigs, and then you kept saying my name. What was your dream about?" she asked.

"I don't remember," Luke lied.

"Well your alarm's been going off for ten minutes," Nicole said.  
  


Luke swore. "Gotta open the diner. Need a shower." He rolled out of bed and headed straight into the bathroom without another word to Nicole.

*  *  *  *

Bang bang bang 

"Lucas!" Lorelai yelled, opening the front door to discover Luke banging on her porch at the ungodly hour of 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning. "I'm getting the strangest sense of déjà vu. Did you fix the porch last night or did I just dream that?"

Luke latched on to the word 'dream' and recalled the one he had been awoken from that morning. He was beginning to suspect that he might need professional help.

"Earth to Luke?" Lorelai called. "Weren't you here yesterday?" 

Luke snapped back to reality. "I noticed then that one of the planks needed fixing as well but I didn't have the right nails with me."

"So you thought you'd come back and wake me up at the crack of dawn?" Lorelai asked, hands on hips.

"Crack of dawn? It's ten o'clock, the breakfast crowd has been and gone."

"Crazy people," Lorelai muttered. "You don't have to do that, you know," she added, although not ungratefully.

"I don't mind. I needed to get out of the apartment anyway, away from the wedding plans," Luke admitted, setting down the hammer and nail.

"Again with the déjà vu."

"There are too many decisions," Luke continued. "I'm just not interested in debating the difference between cherry red and ruby red. Nicole's decided on a red and white color scheme, if that's okay with me, although I have a feeling it's not really a choice. Red and white. It's like Valentines day."

"Or a nurse's outfit, or the Japanese flag, or-"

"I get the picture. And she wants to serve chocolate cake too. Is that normal?"

"No but it sounds great. Who really eats that fruity goop that usually just serves to ruin the icing?" 

"I kind of like that 'fruity goop.'"

"You could have two cakes," Lorelai suggested, eyes lighting up at the thought. "But you have to tell this to Nicole, not me," she pointed out to Luke.

"You're right," he said.

"Always am," she replied cockily. "Anyway, I better go back inside and get dressed. I have to go to the market today because we're completely out of food and Taylor's implemented a dress code."

Luke noticed for the first time the print on the pyjamas sticking out from under Lorelai's coat. Pigs with wings. He resisted the urge to close his eyes in resignation. "I'm assuming you're using the word 'food' liberally," he said dryly instead.

"No, we are completely out of food," Lorelai smiled innocently. "But that doesn't mean I'll be buying anything that isn't prepackaged and laden with sugar, grease, preservatives or all of the above."

"You and Rory should swing by for lunch so I can at least sneak some veggies into your burgers."

"Aw, you take such good care of us!" Lorelai cooed as she opened the front door again.  
  


"Someone has to." Luke picked the hammer and nail once more.

"Hey Luke?" Lorelai called.

 He looked up. "Yeah?"

"Thanks," Lorelai said before disappearing inside. 

*  * 

On her way to the market Lorelai passed Nicole on the street and smiled politely without any intention of stopping.

"Lorelai," Nicole called out. "I want to talk to you."

Lorelai stopped.

"It's about Luke," Nicole began.

"As if we'd have anything else to talk about," Lorelai muttered.

"It seems like he's spending a lot of time with you these days."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Nicole. He did the same think when his old girlfriend Rachel came back. He was constantly fixing things around my house. It's just Luke trying to deal with sharing his life with someone."

"We're getting married," Nicole pointed out. "What happens then? Any time I want to spend time with him he'll be fixing your porch?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked him to do that."  
  


"It wouldn't have mattered, he would have found something of his own accord."

"He'll get over it," Lorelai assured Nicole. "Its just nerves about the engagement. It's a big thing for Luke."

"For me too," said Nicole.

"Of course. I don't really think Luke saw himself married, though."

"He's spoken to you about this?" Nicole asked. 

"Uh, a little bit. I told him he was just nervous."

"Thanks." Nicole nodded. "Maybe that's why he doesn't seem interested in helping me organize anything."

"You know Luke," Lorelai shrugged.

"Apparently not as well as you do," Nicole said wryly. "Anyway, thanks for organizing this engagement party. I know it means a lot to Luke, even if he doesn't always show it."

"He's got a reputation as town grouch to uphold. Oh, I meant to ask you, if you want to put together a list of songs I'll pass them on to DJ Lane for next weekend."

"Sure. I'm heading back to the city tonight and I've got court all next week, so I won't be back in town until the party, but I'll leave the list with Luke."

"Okay then." Lorelai was just about to turn to leave when Nicole spoke up again.

"I didn't plan on proposing, you know." The words rushed out. "The cruise wasn't some elaborate ploy to snag me a husband. But it was romantic and I thought we were having a good time."

"Uh, I'm sure you were," Lorelai replied, feeling as though this wasn't a conversation they should really be having.

"I'm not sure why I told you that." Nicole's forehead creased. "Anyway, I'll let you go."

"See ya."

*  * 

"Ugh," Lorelai announced, dropping the groceries on the kitchen table then flopping dramatically into a chair. "Rory honey, come out here and talk to Mommy, she's had a hard day."

Rory emerged from her bedroom. "Is something wrong with the Inn?"

"No, the Inn's fine. It's Luke and Nicole."

"What about Luke and Nicole?" 

"I feel like I'm being dragged into the middle and I have no idea why." Lorelai pulled a packet of Oreos out of one of the bags and started to munch.

"Uh, you offered to plan their engagement party," Rory pointed out. "Way to throw yourself in the middle."

"Why would I do something like that? Am I insane?" Lorelai asked, offering Rory the packet of cookies.

Rory smirked. "You really want me to answer that?"  
  


"Sympathy, please. All day I've been hearing 'Nicole wants 200 guests,' 'Luke doesn't care about the flowers,' 'Nicole says I can't wear flannel,' 'Luke's spending too much time with you;' 'Nicole wants a chocolate wedding cake'" 

"Wait a minute," Rory stopped Lorelai. "Go back."

"Oh, Luke didn't really try to wear flannel to the wedding, you caught me."

"No, to the part about Luke spending too much time with you."

"It was the porch thing," Lorelai said dismissively.

"So Nicole's still jealous?"  
  


"If she is, she's seriously insecure. I'm planning her engagement party for goodness sake, not trying to steal her finance."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Rory quoted. "Why did you offer to do that anyway? And don't tell me it's just because you were bored."

"Well someone had to. Nicole would probably have planned some fancy chardonnay soirée with her lawyer friends in New York. Can you imagine Luke at something like that? Nicole hanging off his arm, showing off her future trophy husband."

"That's a mighty leap to conclusions about Nicole. How do you know she's into all that stuff?" Rory asked.

"Okay, it's not like I know her that well. But just the way she walks around town with that superior attitude…" Lorelai trailed off.

"I hadn't noticed," said Rory.

"Well she does," Lorelai insisted.

"If you say so." Rory was humoring her mother and Lorelai knew it. 

"Anyway, I just wanted to give Luke something involving the town," said Lorelai. "He's lived here his whole life and I _know_ somewhere under all those complaints he really does care."

"You take good care of him," Rory commented.

"I think there have been times when I could have been a better friend to Luke," Lorelai replied uncharacteristically slowly.

Rory just nodded. "Diner for lunch?" she suggested.

Lorelai shook her head. "Luke threatened veggies in our burgers. Plus Nicole's leaving this afternoon so this way I can avoid her for a whole week."

"But what about food?" The Oreo packet was now empty.

"I brought microwave apple pie and an insane amount of cream."

Rory began digging through the grocery bags.

*  *  *  *

_Whack. _A football hit Luke in the thigh. 

"Ouch," he said, although it didn't really hurt. It was one of those soft, mini-footballs made for kids who were too young for the real thing. The thrower of said football was one such kid. Luke was no expert when it came to children, but he judged the little boy in the backward baseball cap to be about four.

"Gotcha dad!" The kid laughed as he bent down to retrieve the ball.

Dad? 

"My turn!" A little girl the same age as the boy tossed her dark, curly ponytail over her shoulder and lunged for the football. 

The boy pulled it away and stuck his tongue out. "Girls can't play football."

The girl grabbed the baseball cap off the boy's head and ran away, taunting him. 

"Give it back! Mom!" The boy complained, "Is'belle stole my hat."

"Well he wouldn't let me play football!"

Luke looked to where the kids were addressing two women sitting on the grass. He squinted to identify the women, but couldn't see properly with the sun in his eyes. Maybe he should turn his baseball cap around.

"Isabelle, give Billy back his hat and Billy let Isabelle play with you and daddy," the mother instructed calmly. "Girls can do anything boys can do, isn't that right?" 

"Yeah!" Isabelle cheered.

"Then how come you don't play football?" Billy challenged his mother as he resumed their game by passing the ball to Luke, who caught it this time.

"Ooh, is that a challenge, William Danes? I could play football." The woman stood up, ran over to Luke and tackled him. He dropped the ball and used his arms to hold her around the waist.

She laughed and kissed him on the lips. Luke wasn't even surprised. He kissed her back and it felt natural, like they'd done this thousands of times before.

"Eew!" The twins chorused.

The woman pulled back momentarily. "Hey, double trouble, go bug your sister to play with you, that's why she's home this weekend."

The kids ran towards the second woman, still sitting on the grass yelling "Rory!"

Lorelai turned back to Luke and cupped his cheeks with her hands. "Where were we?" she asked playfully before her lips met his again.

Lorelai's tongue tasted funny, Luke thought. He wondered if she was still using that strange, European toothpaste, because it didn't taste fresh and minty like normal toothpaste, it tasted more like… laundry powder. 

Luke woke up with a mouthful of fabric, arms wrapped around his pillow. 

Crap. He was making out with a pillow. He was suddenly a pre-pubescent girl. Thank god there were no witnesses. This had gone way too far. Luke threw back the covers, dressed quickly and stormed out of the apartment.

*  *

"Lorelai!" Luke yelled, banging on her front door.

She stumbled down the stairs and opened the door. "Luke!?? You're going to wake the whole neighborhood. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you," he said seriously.

Lorelai rubbed sleep from her eyes. "Okay, come upstairs, so we don't wake Rory."

Luke closed the door behind him and followed Lorelai upstairs. He stopped at the door to her bedroom.

"You waiting for a written invitation?" she asked.

"It's your bedroom."

"This isn't 1896. Come in. You disturbed my slumber, so we will have this conversation in bed." She paused. "Well that didn't quite come out right."

Lorelai sat cross-legged at the head of the bed and Luke pushed aside a pile of clothes to sit on the armchair. 

"So what can I do for you at-" Lorelai checked her alarm clock, "4:38 this fine morning?"

"Stay out of my dreams," Luke said immediately.

"Excuse me? Strange as this may sound, I don't actually have the power to insert myself into your dreams. I think you need to have this chat with your subconscious."

"I have. I can't take it anymore."

"So this has been going on for a while?"

"Ever since you told me about _your _dream. With the alarm clocks and the twins. That must have had something to do with it."

"What are you dreaming about?" Lorelai sounded very interested. "Is it dirty?" 

"No, not dirty. Tonight I dreamt we were playing football with our twins – Billy and Isabelle, by the way."

"Aw, you named the boy and I named the girl, that's sweet," Lorelai said. "So we were playing football, what happened then?"

"Uh, nothing much, it was just one of those family things."

"So dream us are married, huh? Like a parallel universe or a past life. Interesting." Lorelai pondered.

"Interesting? Is that all you can say?" Luke asked.

"What do you want me to say, Luke?"

He wasn't exactly sure. "Most of my dreams involve you telling me not to marry Nicole. Tell me what you really think about her and I."

"I have told you, Luke. These dreams aren't about me or what I think. They're about you. You're projecting these thoughts onto me so you don't have to admit to yourself that you've got pre-wedding jitters."

"Thank you, Dr Freud."

"I'm serious, Luke. I'm not going to be your excuse to back out of this wedding. Aside from the fact that Nicole would probably sue me, you're my friend and I won't let you push happiness away."

Luke chose to avoid the serious part. "What would Nicole sue you for?"  
  


"I don't know, emotional damage? She's a lawyer, they'll come up with anything. Luke, I think you are in serious need of a pro-con list," Lorelai said.

Luke groaned. "That is not a legitimate way to make a life changing decision."

"Well you need something to help you sort out your thoughts."

"I have you."

Lorelai wasn't sure if she was entirely comfortable with that.

Luke filled the silence by standing up to leave. "I have to open the diner in less than an hour." 

"Okay, I'll walk you home." Lorelai climbed out of bed. "You can make me breakfast."

"Okay," Luke agreed and stood there, looking at her expectantly.

"Can I get dressed?"

"Don't let me stop you," Luke smirked, but went to wait in the hall, closing the door behind him.

Lorelai quickly slipped into jeans, sneakers and a blue hoodie and left Rory a note on the kitchen table, just in case.  
  


*  *

"So you _really_ think I'm just doing the commitment freak-out thing?" Luke asked Lorelai as they walked through the deserted streets of Stars Hollow.

"I just want you to be happy," she said sincerely.

"You think marrying Nicole will guarantee my happiness?" 

"I'm not putting my life savings on it."

"Because that twenty bucks can buy a lot of coffee, right?"

"Exactly. But about your happiness; in general, I don't think the idea of growing old alone can be particularly appealing, even to a self-professed loner like yourself. Besides, who isn't happier when they're getting some on a regular basis, huh?" Lorelai bumped her hip playfully against his.

Luke impulsively slung an arm around Lorelai's shoulder and hugged her to him as they walked. "Thank you," he said generally.

Lorelai turned her face towards his slightly and smiled out of the corner of her mouth. "Nothing says thank you like a giant bacon and egg burger."

"Well nothing says I-told-you-so like a giant heart attack," he retorted.

The teasing continued all the way to the diner.

*  *  *  * 

TBC


	5. Ch 5

AN: Don't fall asleep during this chapter, ok? And don't start reading it if you have somewhere important to be in the next five minutes. It's looooong, but not easily divisible by two.

Oneiromancy

Part Five 

"Looking forward to tonight?" Lorelai asked Luke as she entered the diner for a quick coffee break. The engagement party was only a few hours away and preparations were in full swing.

"Not particularly," Luke replied.

"Party pooper," Lorelai accused lightly.

"I got an interesting phone call this morning," Luke said as he handed Lorelai her coffee.

"Oh yeah?"  
  


"You invited Rachel." 

"Yes, I did," Lorelai said unashamedly. 

"Why would you do that?" Luke asked her.

"Because you should have," she answered pointedly. "Because I called Christopher from my bachelorette party and you should share this with someone who knows you really well. You and Rachel have a history, Luke." Lorelai reached across the counter and poked his chest. "_You_ didn't even tell her you were engaged. It was embarrassing."

"What was embarrassing?" asked Luke.

"Never mind," she said quickly. When Lorelai had invited Rachel to the engagement party, Rachel had congratulated _her_ said it was about time. Lorelai then had to rush out an awkward denial and explanation about Nicole. "Anyway, I think it's great that Rachel can make it. Speaking of which, I forgot to check if Nicole's parents were coming?"

"Nope, I think after my performance at our first meeting they weren't particularly eager to meet a whole town of people who Nicole assures them have a much looser grasp on reality than I do. They're throwing us another engagement party in a couple of weeks at some fancy restaurant." Luke didn't exactly sound thrilled at the prospect.

"Oh, that's nice," Lorelai commented.

"Do you want to come?" Luke asked.

"I thought they wanted to meet people who were saner than you."

Luke smiled at Lorelai. "Where's the challenge when you set yourself up like that?" 

"Don't worry, it won't happen again. Consider it your engagement present."

"So do you want to come to the party? They said I could invite friends, and I won't really know anyone else there."

"You don't think it'd be kind of weird?" asked Lorelai.

Luke shrugged. "It's up to you."  


"I'll think about it." Lorelai gulped down the rest of her coffee. "I have to get going, there's still heaps to do. I'll see you tonight."

"Couldn't miss it for the world."  
  


"It's _wouldn't_ miss it," Lorelai corrected.

"Not in this case," Luke assured her.

"I'll be back in an hour to take over the diner," Lorelai reminded Luke.

"Can't hardly wait."

* * * * 

Three hours later, Lorelai and Rory stood in the middle of the town square, surveying their work proudly. The celebrations were planned to extend from a bar, finger food and dance floor in Miss Patty's, across the decorated town square, to Luke's for a sit-down dinner; where Lorelai had followed through on her promise of candles and white tablecloths and Sookie had commandeered the kitchen.

"The place looks great," Rory said.

Lorelai agreed. "If there's one thing we Stars Hollow-ites know how to do it's hold a celebration."  
  


"Hey," Luke crossed the road from the diner to join them, dressed for the party in good black pants and a blue shirt. 

"Hi, Luke, what do you think?" Lorelai asked.

"It looks nice," he admitted grudgingly.

"Where's Nicole?" Rory asked.

"Still getting ready." 

"Well you look good," Lorelai told him.

"Thanks, you look…" Luke took in her faded jeans and tight top with a monkey named Julius on the front. "Not ready."

"We're just about to head home and change, we'll be back real soon," Lorelai promised.

"Bye Luke," Rory added.

Luke watched Lorelai sling her arm around Rory's shoulder and talk animatedly as the two headed off down the street. He then turned back to look around the Town Square. It _did_ look nice, if you liked that sort of thing.

People soon began arriving and Nicole joined Luke mingling with the guests. Luke had never been very good at social situations like this. He just didn't see the need for small talk and was soon sick of hearing the congratulations on the engagement over and over again. Luckily for him, Nicole handled everything graciously.

Half an hour later, the party was really starting to warm up, but there was still no sign of Lorelai and Rory. Half-listening to Miss Patty yammer on about something, Luke's gaze was wandering around the room when he spotted a familiar figure arriving. He quickly excused himself and made his way across the room.

She noticed him coming and gave a warm smile. "Luke!" 

"Rachel." Luke reached her in several long strides and was greeted with a warm hug.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Rachel prodded him in the chest. "Hopeless! Good thing you have Lorelai to take care of you."

"I'm glad you came," Luke said sincerely.

"I was in New York on assignment this week, so the timing was perfect. How are you?" Rachel asked, pulling back to look him over.

"Engaged."  
  


"Where is she?" 

"Over there, the one being harangued by Miss Patty."

Rachel looked over curiously and was about to comment when Sookie rushed up to them. "Luke, where do you keep your crepe maker?" she demanded. "Hi Rachel."

"Hi Sookie."

"I don't have a crepe maker," Luke said.

"But I need a crepe maker. Find me a crepe maker!"

Luke gave Rachel and apologetic look. "Sorry, it's perilous to disobey Sookie when she's in mad cooking mode."

"Go," Rachel waved him off. "I'll introduce myself to your fiancée."

"We'll talk later," Luke promised.

* *

After Luke left the conversation, Miss Patty looked at Nicole with a gleam in her eye. "I wonder where Luke ran off to? Probably spotted Lorelai arrive. It's two bad those kids never got together. No offence to you of course, dear," she added quickly.

"They never dated?" Nicole asked.

"No, after all those years of sexual tension, it's a such a shame, I almost feel cheated. But maybe after this week they'll have gotten it out of their systems."

"What are you talking about?" Nicole was fairly certain Patty was going to tell her whether she asked or not.

"Well dear, surely you've noticed a little something between those two. Even when Luke's with another girl, part of his heart's always with Lorelai. And after this week we have some very interesting evidence placing them together… Kirk, just the man." Miss Patty grabbed his arm. "Tell Nicole about Wednesday morning."

Kirk pulled out a notepad and flipped back several pages. "I was doing my paper run on Wednesday morning and at approximately 5:27 a.m. Luke and Lorelai were seen walking down Peach Street together."

"At 5:32 I was preparing for my yoga class when they entered the diner together." Miss Patty paused and glanced at Nicole for a reaction. The look on her face said _so? _Patty continued. "The entire town can attest that Lorelai does not get out of bed that early in the morning without a _very_ good reason." The implication was blatantly obvious, but that didn't deter Patty from spelling it out. "And what better reason is there than the hot lovin' of a fine man?"  
  


_Oh boy,_ thought Nicole. Was she supposed to reply to that? Nicole wasn't exactly thrilled by Lorelai's friendship with her fiancé, but she didn't believe that Luke would cheat on her. More unbelievable still was the way Miss Patty was openly telling her all this. Thankfully, Nicole was spared the necessity of coming up with a response by Rachel's arrival.

"Hello Patty, good to see you again." Rachel turned to Nicole. "Hi, you must be Nicole, I'm Rachel."

_Luke's ex_, Nicole thought. _Fabulous._ They better be serving alcohol at this party. Nicole forced a smile. "Hi Rachel, it's nice to meet you."

"Same here. Congratulations on the engagement."

"You two must have a lot to talk about," Miss Patty moved away to speak to Babette, but took care to remain within earshot of the two women.

Nicole and Rachel looked at each other somewhat awkwardly.

"So, Nicole, what do you do?" Rachel asked.

"I'm a lawyer. You?"

"Photographer."  
  


"Oh." They both nodded slightly.

"I didn't realize Luke invited you," Nicole said. "I didn't realize he invited anyone, actually, he seemed pretty disinterested in the whole thing."

"That's Luke," Rachel said with a smile. "Lorelai invited me, actually."

"Ah."

"I always expected Lorelai would one day invite me to Luke's engagement party, I just figured she'd be the one he was marrying."

"You're not alone. In fact, that's pretty much all I've been hearing all night," Nicole said. "'Congratulations, Luke, but I always thought it would be Lorelai.' These people aren't big on tact are they?"

"Are you having a hard time with the town?" Rachel asked sympathetically.

Nicole nodded. "Luke keeps saying they're nuts, but well meaning." 

"I got the same thing. They have this thing about Luke and Lorelai getting together. It's like the collective town pastime and we get in the way."

Nicole was relieved to find someone who understood. "When Luke and I started dating I didn't realize I was stepping in on anything; although I probably should have after the first date."

"He talks about her constantly then denies they're more than friends?" Rachel asked. "Been there."

"What did you do?"  
  


"I left," Rachel said. "But it was my decision. Lorelai was nothing but nice to me. She seemed genuinely oblivious."

"I don't know what to think," Nicole admitted. "I just thought she was an ex. I wasn't really comfortable with the fact that they were still friends, but I figured I could deal. Everyone has some baggage, right? But I'm beginning to think it's bigger than that."

"Luke is a great guy though," Rachel offered.

"I know. Hey do you want to go get a drink?"

"Sounds great." Rachel followed Nicole to the bar.

* *

After tracking down a crepe maker for Sookie, Luke returned to Miss Patty's and looked around for Nicole or Rachel. He didn't spot them, but noticed Lorelai immediately. It was hard not to, given her outfit. She wore tight tops and jeans all the time, and short skirts to work; but even dressed up for dates, Luke had never seen Lorelai in anything quite so revealing as tonight. The knee-length black skirt was fairly standard, as were the black heels, although they were high enough to place her on eye level with him. It was her top that caught Luke's attention, along with that of every other guy in the room. It consisted of a thin strap tied around her neck and another one tied across her otherwise bare back. The only fabric, a satiny, deep blue material, hung loosely down her front. Luke wondered how it stayed in place. Then he wondered why she'd chosen tonight to debut it.

Lorelai caught his eye and sauntered over with a smile on her face. "You're staring."

"I was wondering what happened to your top."

"You don't like it?" she asked flirtatiously.

"I'm just worried you'll give people ideas. You better watch it; someone could grab the stringy thing like this-" Luke tugged on the strap on the back.

"Hey!" Lorelai was suddenly worried about flashing the whole party. "You wanna tie a double knot for me?" she asked.

Luke did so with pleasure. Lorelai tossed her hair slightly and the loose curls brushed against his cheek. Luke stepped back quickly.

"Thank you," Lorelai turned back around to face him with a smile.

Luke was considering pinching himself to determine whether this was another dream, but Nicole's arrival dispelled that theory.

"There you are," Nicole said. She made a show of wrapping an arm around Luke's waist and resting the other on his chest. "Hi Lorelai."

"Hi Nicole. You look great." Lorelai said sweetly.

"Thanks, so do you." Nicole enthused. "Armani?"

_Yeah, very cute. _Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Prada, actually. But I think mixing it with the Gucci heels was a mistake. I should have worn the Manolos."

The fake-sincerity girly thing ended with Lorelai's imaginary new wardrobe and Nicole explained, primarily to Luke, how she'd just been getting to know Rachel. 

Luke was looking slightly uncomfortable at the thought when Michel tapped him on the shoulder. "I have been asked to inform you that your stove is broken."

"It was working fine this morning," Luke protested.

"Well it is apparently not working now. You must fix it because Sookie is about to have a coronary and I refuse to scrape the body off the floor."

"I'm coming," Luke grouched and gave an acknowledging glance to Lorelai and Nicole before following Michel.

Lorelai looked at Nicole. "Ah, I should go say hi to Rachel." 

"I'll come with you," Nicole volunteered.

"Hi Rachel, how have you been?" Lorelai asked as she and Nicole joined Rachel by the bar.

"Lorelai, hi," Rachel replied. "I'm good, you?"

"Peachy."

"Want a drink?" Rachel offered, avoiding the need for conversation. "Nicole and I have already started."

"Sure, what are we drinking?" Lorelai wasn't sure why the situation felt so weird but wondered if the other women felt as uncomfortable as she did.

"I think this is a tequila moment," said Nicole. "Lick, sip and suck."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Sounds serious." She banged on the bar top, "Hey Kirk, three tequilas and three martinis to follow." Lorelai looked to Rachel and Nicole who nodded their approval.

"Uh, Lorelai could you remind me what making a martini involves again please?" Kirk asked as Lorelai held out her left hand for salt and lemon.

"Kirk, maybe you should consider only signing up for jobs you're actually qualified for," Lorelai suggested.

"Never mind I'll consult the book."

Lorelai picked up her shot glass with her right hand and held it up. "Cheers, girls," she said wryly. After taking the shot, Lorelai pulled a face and quickly dropped the remains of her lemon slice into her empty shot glass then exchanged it for a martini, eager to rid her mouth of the bitter taste. "Kirk, this is not a martini!"

"Everyone's a critic!" Kirk sulked off to the other side of the bar.

"What do you think it is?" Rachel asked, doubtfully swirling the liquid in her glass.

Nicole took another sip. "Tastes _almost_ like a vodka martini. Crossed with a manhattan."

"I think we have ourselves an expert," said Rachel.

"Lots of after work cocktails," Nicole explained.

Lorelai finished the rest of her drink in one gulp. "So have you two been swapping Luke stories?" she asked the other women curiously.

"You could say that. Do you have anything to add?" Rachel asked Lorelai. "Did you and he ever… you know?" 

"No. I mean, he's _Luke._" Lorelai noticed the Rachel and Nicole exchange looks. "I mean, I'm sure he's great in bed – not that I ever think of him in bed," she added hurriedly. "That's the point, I don't think of him in that way, which is why – Oh, how do I talk myself into these corners?" Lorelai gave up.

Luckily, both Rachel and Nicole laughed, and the ice was officially broken.

Luke, having fixed Sookie's stove problem, returned to the hall in time to witness the moment. He stopped short at the door. It was every man's worst nightmare. Ex-girlfriend, current girlfriend and potential girlfriend, all the same room. Talking to each other. Worse still, they were laughing. Paranoid, Luke quickly turned back outside, but not before Lorelai, Rachel and Nicole noticed. They laughed even more.

"Poor Luke," Rachel commented. "Too many of his women in one room."

"Hey, I was never his woman," Lorelai said.

"I still find that hard to believe. The last time I left I pretty much told him to ask you out," Rachel told Lorelai.

"Really?" Lorelai seemed surprised. "He never really said why you left. I guess I was a little distracted, that was around the time I got engaged to Max."

"You were engaged?" Nicole asked.

"Briefly. Boring story," Lorelai glazed over it "Go back to discussing Luke."

"Someone's curious," Nicole noted.

Warning lights flashed in Lorelai's head and she quickly changed the subject. "Hey, look at the time, dinner must be almost ready." She gestured to Lane to cut the music to gain the attention of the other guests. "Hey, excuse me just a minute, quick announcement." Lorelai said loudly and waited for the murmuring around the room to cease. "Okay. Hi everyone, thanks for coming; if you'd all like to make your way over to the diner, it's time to eat." 

"Are we all sitting at the same table?" Rachel asked Lorelai as they joined the mass movement towards the diner.

"Yeah, I think we are," Lorelai answered.

"Good. Anyone up for a little game?" Rachel asked Lorelai and Nicole with a mischievous look on her face.

* *

At dinner, Luke found himself seated between Nicole and Rachel. Rory and Lorelai made up the rest of the table, but they were currently distributing champagne bottles around the room. 

"I never knew this place could look so nice," Rachel commented, looking around at the tablecloths and soft lighting. 

"I know, isn't it great?" said Nicole, leaning in front of Luke to address Rachel.

"Don't get attached," Luke warned. "Tomorrow morning it's going back the way it was."

"Champagne delivery." Lorelai placed a bottle in the middle of the table.

Luke looked at it with a small frown. "Does it matter that I don't have a liquor license?" he asked.

"You don't need one, it's a private function," Nicole said confidently.

"Is that true?" Lorelai asked Nicole in a hushed tone.

"I have no idea," Nicole whispered back. "Grab an extra bottle for our table?" she asked.

"No problem."

Lorelai and Rory soon took their seats at the table and Luke popped open a bottle of champagne.

When all glasses were filled, Lorelai stood up and tapped on hers in a vain attempt to gain the attention of the room.

Nicole stuck her fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Conversation ceased and all eyes were drawn to their table.

Lorelai gave Nicole a surprised look. "Thanks." She then held up her champagne glass. "Okay everyone, a toast to Luke and Nicole."

"To Luke and Nicole."

Lorelai appealed to Luke for a speech, but Luke shook his head firmly.

"Later," Lorelai warned him. "Have some more champagne."

Miss Patty leant over from the next table. "Luke, you lucky, lucky man. To be sitting at a table full of beautiful women. And you look so fine, there's bound to be injuries as they fight for your attention."

"It's his engagement party," Lorelai pointed out. "I think we all know who has his attention." 

"And I hope I'm not included in that assessment," Rory said to Miss Patty.

"But he looks so handsome, doll. If you're young and cute, why wouldn't you want a piece of that?"

Lorelai reached over to cover Rory's ears. "Are you trying to give her an Electra complex?" she asked Patty.

"Who's Electra?" Babette, who was of course seated next to Patty, asked.

"Freud's invention, the female Oedipus," Rory explained. "Shouldn't have said anything," she whispered to Lorelai through clenched teeth.

"That's it, I'm confiscating whatever you get this psychoanalytic crap from," Luke told Lorelai.

"Marie Claire?"  
  


"You're worried she'll fall in love with her father and try to kill her mother?" Miss Patty asked.

"Yes, I sleep with my bedroom door locked because I'm terrified Rory will try to kill me in my sleep." Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"Maybe it runs in the family," Babette pondered.

"What, homicidal tendencies?" Nicole asked, quickly losing track of a typical town conversation.

"Wait a minute, did someone say Luke is Rory's father?" Rune spoke up. He and Jackson were also seated at Miss Patty's table.

"Who invited him?" Luke demanded.

"Sorry, he wasn't supposed to speak to anyone." Jackson gave his cousin a harsh look.

"I meant Luke's _like_ a father," Lorelai said, eager to avoid starting any bizarre rumors. "And that's 'like' as in old-enough-to-be."

"We got it," Luke said.

"Hey, it's the first course," Rory said gratefully.

"Thank you Sookie," Lorelai muttered.

"First course. Let the games begin." Rachel shared a look with Lorelai and Nicole.

* *

Twenty minutes later, Luke decided something very strange was going on. Rory aside, the women at his table had been acting awfully giggly and even _flirty_ throughout the meal. Nicole was always leaning in close to whisper in his ear; Rachel touched his arm as she spoke; and Lorelai was giving him long gazes and flipping her hair a lot. Luke tried to brush it off as his imagination. Maybe someone had just nudged his leg by accident, he thought. Hmm. Nope, that foot running up and down his calf was definitely not accidental. Nicole had never tried to play footsies with him under the table before, although she was being very affectionate tonight. But that was definitely Nicole's hand on his knee. So who the hell was sliding their foot over his ankle? It was a small table, so it could easily be anyone. But Rachel and Lorelai seemed rapt in their conversation about the Dragonfly Inn, and Nicole was asking Rory about her college plans. No clues there. Luke resisted the temptation to duck his head under the table and check.

"How do you like the second course, Luke?" Lorelai asked him suddenly. "I just love Sookie's chicken. It's so warm, and juicy, and tender." The words rolled off her tongue.

Rachel took a bite and did her best soap star impression. "Mmmm, it's reeealllly good."

Nicole's hand was inching its way up his thigh and the foot had worked its way under his pant leg. Nicole, Rachel and Lorelai were all still flashing him 1000-watt smiles in between seductive bites of their chicken. Luke decided he was definitely losing his mind.

"Excuse me. I just, uh, need to use the bathroom." He stood up looking flustered and made a hasty exit. 

"Yes! I win!" Lorelai cheered. 

"That was fun," added Nicole.

"What's going on?" Rory asked. 

"We're playing torture the diner man," Lorelai explained. "I guessed he wouldn't make it through the second course. These two gave him more credit."

"Maybe we didn't give you enough credit," Nicole suggested.

"What's the prize?" Rory wondered.  
  


Lorelai, Rachel and Nicole looked at each other blankly. "We didn't get that far."

"The look on Luke's face was prize enough." Lorelai grinned.

Miss Patty leaned over. "I saw the whole thing." Miss Patty saw everything. "And I love it! You girls are _bad_."

Rachel shrugged. "We're bonding."

* *

After dinner Nicole dragged Luke outside for some privacy. "I need to talk to you," she insisted.

"Is anything wrong?" Luke asked.

"Kind of, but you can fix it. Will you do one thing for me before we get married?" 

"I can try. What is it?"   
  


"Have sex with Lorelai."

"I'm sorry, _what?_"

"I think you should have sex with Lorelai," Nicole repeated.

"Why?" Was all Luke could think to ask. "Why would you say something like that?"  
  


"Because I thought it was in the past for the two of you, but it's not and I'd rather it was out of your system before we get married. It's logical, I got the idea off Patty."  
  


"Patty, oh, well that makes perfect sense!"

"Luke, I'm serious! You have to sleep with Lorelai before we get married!"

Someone gasped audibly behind them and Luke and Nicole spun around.

"Hi Rory," Luke croaked. 

"You didn't hear that." Nicole willed it to be true.

"Sorry," Rory squeaked and hurried away.

Luke exhaled deeply. "You're crazy," he pointed at Nicole.

"I think the idea has merit."

"I'm not sleeping with Lorelai, that's insane!"

"Why is it insane?" Nicole challenged.

"Because I'm engaged to you!" Luke yelled.

"But I want you to do it!" Nicole cried.

"What if I don't want to?" Luke demanded.

"I don't care!" Nicole yelled.

"Well then you have officially lost it! Welcome to Stars Hollow!" Luke shouted.

Nicole suddenly stopped the argument by placing a gently hand on Luke's arm. "I can't believe we're having our first real fight at our engagement party," she said softly.

Luke took a deep breath. "It's been a weird night." Convinced that Nicole had had way too much to drink, he took her hand and led her across to the diner. "Come on, I think you need sleep."

* *

"Mom," Rory hissed, beckoning Lorelai over.

Lorelai excused herself from a conversation with Sookie and Jackson and joined Rory in the corner of the room. "What's up, Hon? Having a good time?"

Rory held on to her mother's arm and looked around warily before she spoke. "I just overheard something that I probably shouldn't repeat but I really, really, **_really_** want to tell you."

"Ooh, what was it? Did Miss Patty get incredibly drunk and proposition Taylor again?" Lorelai asked, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

Rory scrunched up her face. "Bad mental image. No, not that I heard, thank goodness. But it does have something to do with a proposition." 

"Spill!" Lorelai demanded. 

Rory glanced over at the dessert table. "Okay, there's this caramel torte and she – it – is in love with the fruit salad."

Lorelai grinned. "I love a good food metaphor!" 

"So the fruit salad and the caramel torte are together," Rory continued, "but the torte told the fruit salad to, uh, give some of its banana to the cake."

"Does this cake want the banana in it?" Lorelai asked. 

"I don't know. See, the cake and the fruit salad are good friends, but cake and fruit salad don't always go together. You can sit them next to each other but you wouldn't eat them together."

"But as far as dessert goes, what really goes that well with fruit salad?" Lorelai asked.

"I think caramel torte and fruit salad together might be okay for a while but then go bad," said Rory.

"If I were a torte who loved fruit salad, I wouldn't want to share it with anyone," Lorelai pondered.  
  


"I think the torte wants the fruit salad to taste test the cake before it commits to the torte."

"We are talking about sex right?" Lorelai checked.

"Oh, this is getting too complicated. Nicole told Luke to sleep with you," Rory blurted out.

Lorelai blinked an unnatural number of times in succession and looked around for a chair. Failing to find one within easy reach, she sank to the floor. "What did he say?"  
  


"That's kind of when they noticed me," Rory admitted, joining her mother on the floor.

"You couldn't have ducked behind a tree or a table or a Kirk or something?" Lorelai asked.

"It was sudden, I was surprised."

"Why would she say something like that?" Lorelai appealed to the universe.

"Did you miss the whole taste testing bit?" asked Rory. "Should I not have told you?"  
  


"No, I that is something I would definitely have wanted to know. Only now I know, I really wish I didn't."

"Right," Rory said slowly.

"Nicole was obviously drunk," Lorelai decided. "And if _I_ drink enough I won't remember any of this in the morning." 

"Glad to hear you have a plan. Even if it does involve alcohol poisoning."

Lorelai reached up and grabbed a discarded glass from the dessert table. It was half-filled with champagne and she swallowed it in one go. "This is some party."

* *

Having walked Nicole back to the diner, Luke was now sitting alone on a bench in the town square. 

"Hey," a soft voice called.

"Hey yourself," Luke said as Rachel sat down beside him. 

"Nice night," Rachel commented.

"Strange night." Luke looked at the sky. "Full moon. Think that explains anything?"

"Sorry about before," Rachel said. "You got the game right?"

"I'm glad I kept you all amused." Luke said dryly, but without seeming annoyed.

"It was my idea," Rachel confessed. "Juvenile, I know. I'm sobering up now."

"I think Nicole's still gone. She's sleeping back at the apartment."

"So what are you doing out here all alone?" Rachel asked. 

"You know me," said Luke, recalling Lorelai's reason for inviting Rachel.

"That's right, I do. And in that capacity, how are you really feeling about getting married? You don't have to say happy and excited," Rachel assured him.

"Good, because uncertain and terrified are more the words that spring to mind," Luke replied.

"Let me photograph your wedding," Rachel said suddenly.

"You don't have to do that," Luke said.

"I insist. It's my gift to you."

"Okay then, thank you."

Rachel gave a bittersweet smile. "I just want you to be happy."

"That's what Lorelai said," Luke told her. "She thinks I'm having a commitment freak out about getting married."

"Are you?" Rachel asked.

"Probably." Luke looked over at the woman beside him, whom he's known for so many years. She probably knew him better than anyone, and in some ways better than he knew himself. "I don't know what I'm feeling anymore," he admitted.

"It must be kind of hard to distinguish general cold feet from wanting someone else."  
  


"What are you talking about?" Luke played dumb.

Rachel gave him a stern look. "Don't try that on me, Luke Danes. What happened with you and Lorelai? When I left I told you not to wait too long."

"I guess I was never very good at taking advice."

"Did you even try?"

_Not exactly._

"Is she your excuse not to get close to anyone else?" Rachel continued. "You pretended otherwise, or maybe you'd genuinely deluded yourself, but it was so obvious she was what you wanted. Then you didn't even try to get her."

"It's not that simple."  
  


"It is," Rachel insisted. "Luke you can't hold out for something that's never going to happen. If you and Lorelai are just going to play the friends card, then go ahead and marry Nicole. You can't sit on the fence any longer." She smirked. "You'll get splinters in your butt." Rachel patted his knee before standing up to go back inside. "Think about it."

Luke remained on the bench and did just that. Had he been looking for an excuse? Holding on to the dream of Lorelai as a reason not to become seriously involved in a relationship? Luke couldn't deny that he'd thought about he and Lorelai together, but it wasn't as though he was doing anything to win her. Luke was just waiting. Waiting patiently for what sometimes seemed inevitable and sometimes seemed unattainable. And while he was waiting, Nicole had appeared. Maybe it was time to move on.

* * * *

TBC

Feedback is cherished and those who give it are worshipped. I'm thinking of building a shrine. At least, I would be if I were a person who can be trusted with power tools. 


	6. Ch 6

AN: Thanks everyone for the supportive reviews, prepare for another long chapter. Also, I have no idea what the difference between PG and PG-13 is, but note the upping of the rating, just to be safe.

Oneiromancy

Part Six

_Previously: _

Luke was just waiting. Waiting patiently for what sometimes seemed inevitable and sometimes seemed unattainable. And while he was waiting, Nicole had appeared. So maybe it was time to move on.

*  *  *  *  

Lorelai was at Luke's wedding. He was standing at the alter looking handsome, but nervous in a tux. The town square looked beautiful all done up. Lorelai wondered briefly how Luke had convinced Nicole to go for a smaller wedding, and even use the chuppa, but there wasn't time to dwell on the topic because she was late. The other guests were already seated as Lorelai made her way down the center aisle. She smiled at Rory, who was standing across from Luke at the front holding a small bouquet of flowers. It was sweet of Luke to include Rory in the wedding, Lorelai reflected as she looked around for an empty seat. Everyone was staring at her so Lorelai looked self-consciously down at her outfit. White. Uh, oh. She knew better than to wear white to a wedding. Then she noticed that she was also carrying a bouquet. And her parents were sitting in the front row looking proud; Babette and Miss Patty were sniffling a few rows back; Rory was smiling at her encouragingly and Luke was giving her a look of pure love. 

Uh oh.

"Luuuuke!" Lorelai yelled, sitting upright in bed. She threw back the covers, pulled on a chunky sweater and ugh boots and strode determinedly out of the house. 

_And all this living is so much harder than it seems_

_But girl don't let your dreams be dreams_

_You know this living is not so hard as it seems_

_Don't let your dreams be dreams_

"Luke!" Lorelai yelled again, now standing in the street in front of the diner.

A moment later, Luke stuck his head out a window. "Lorelai? What's wrong?"

"I had a dream and it's all your fault!"

"What's going on?" A sleepy and annoyed-looking Nicole joined Luke at the window.

"Oh." Nicole had not been part of this plan. Not that Lorelai _had_ a plan, other than running through town in the middle of the night to talk to Luke. "Sorry to wake you." Feeling incredibly foolish, Lorelai quickly ran back across the street.

"Lorelai, wait," Luke called. When she didn't stop he turned away from the window and began pulling on his shoes.

"Luke, what is going on?" Nicole asked crossly.

"I have to make sure she's okay," he said.

"I am getting really sick of this!" Nicole ran a hand through her hair. "You go after her and we're over," she threatened.

Wordlessly, Luke walked out the door.

*  *

He found her sitting in the still done-up gazebo, hot pink ugh boots on the bench with her, pajama-clad knees curled up to her chest.

"Hey." 

"I'm sorry, you should go back to bed," Lorelai said, looking up as Luke sat down beside her. 

"I'm up now. Tell me what happened."

Lorelai shook her head like a defiant six year old.

Luke gave her a look of parental disapproval.

Lorelai relented. "I had a dream I was at your wedding..." she trailed off. "Only it was my wedding too."

"Oh."

"I had a gorgeous dress and everything was perfect…" Lorelai continued. "But it was just a stupid dream. Go back to Nicole."

"She told me if I went after you it was over between her and I."

"She didn't mean that, she's just pissed off about being woken up in the middle of the night," Lorelai predicted.

"I think she's pissed off about a lot more than that." Luke sighed. "In a way I hope she _did_ mean it. Might make things easier." 

"Rory told me what she said," Lorelai admitted.

"I figured she would. Nicole was drunk," Luke said dismissively. 

It would have been easy for them to leave it at that, but Lorelai couldn't play this game any more. "What's going on with us Luke?" she asked. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Luke's response was reflexive; after all, denial had worked for them this long.

But Lorelai wouldn't let him get away with it. "You do so. We can't keep pretending this dreaming about each other is normal." 

Luke leant his head back and stared at the gazebo roof. "I almost called one of those psychic hotlines the other day," he admitted.

Lorelai snorted. "You did not."

"I thought about it. For about ten seconds."

"You don't need someone to interpret your dreams, Luke. I mean, if you're constantly dreaming about death by beef flavored ice cream, then maybe you have issues."

"Or you spend way too much time thinking about food," Luke interjected.

"That too. But your dreams are self-explanatory. You've got cold feet about marrying Nicole. Simple. You're having second thoughts."

"I'm having twenty-second thoughts. But that still doesn't explain why you're always the one telling me not to marry her."

"You're secretly in love with me."  
  


Luke wished he could tell if she was joking. "Hey, you're the one who started this whole thing by dreaming about us being married with twins on the way."

"Okay, want to hear my next interpretation? This one explains my dreams as well."

"If I said no, would it make a difference?"

"Nope. I mean it, Luke, you have to think about this," Lorelai said. Luke saw the fear and nervousness in her eyes and knew she was serious. "Okay, here goes. This – us – is the longest relationship I've ever had. And I don't want it to change."

"I don't want our friendship to change either."

"Not friendship, relationship," Lorelai said firmly.

"Meaning?"  
 

"Meaning we are as much like a married couple as anyone I know. Except for the whole sharing a bed part, that is."

"Isn't that what a friend is? A lover minus the sexual stuff?" 

"No, it's not and we're more than that, Luke. More than friends. Think about it," Lorelai appealed. "You know where the electrical outlets are in my bathroom better than I do!"  
  


"That's only because I've fixed them so many times."

"Exactly! You're my personal electrician! And plumber and all-round handyman," she continued. "You can recite every sweater I own, which pushes the creepy-stalker boundary." Luke felt his cheeks redden as Lorelai went on. "I'm the first person you think of calling when you want a second opinion on an apartment, you're the first person I call when a chick gets loose in the house. I dress you, you feed me. We bicker constantly, but mostly light-heartedly. Old married couple," Lorelai pronounced. "I don't know what it means, I'm just saying it's there. We don't acknowledge it, but it is." She finished firmly and looked at him expectantly for a response.

"No." Luke said suddenly.

Lorelai was taken aback. "You don't acknowledge it?" she challenged, half defensive of her theory, half afraid that he didn't feel the same way. This was her big revelation, how dare he not agree? 

"No, I do. I hear what you're saying," said Luke. "And you're right, we're almost there. It's just that… I don't think we're totally comfortable with each other. I mean, we are, but, I don't know, I get the feeling that we're always on guard."

"Example?"  
  


"Okay. You're a touchy-feely person, Lorelai. You and Rory are constantly hugging and kissing. You're always hugging your friends, and touching people in general conversation. But you hold back with me."

It was subconscious and Lorelai couldn't believe Luke had noticed, but she realized that a part of her _was_ restrained around him. "I guess I'm afraid of getting too close. I don't want to lose you." Lorelai bit her lower lip, voice full of emotion. 

"You think if you get too close you'll lose me?" Luke asked.

"If I get too close it will hurt more."

"I think I'm already too close," Luke admitted. Their faces had moved together throughout the course of this exchange and now lacked the personal space conversations usually entailed. For the briefest moment, Lorelai thought he might kiss her but Luke turned his head to look at the diner instead of her and suddenly his voice sounded as though it was coming from some place very far away. "For some reason I feel that I can't make a big decision without knowing where I stand with you," he confessed. "Almost like I need your permission to marry Nicole."

"You don't."

"I know."  
  


"But you have it anyway."

"I know," Luke said again. "That's the problem."

"You want me to make the decision for you. I can't do that," Lorelai told him.

"It's okay, you helped already."

Somehow, without conscious effort on either part, his left hand found her right one and their fingers entwined as they lapsed into a contemplatative silence.

"So what now?" Lorelai asked finally.

Luke shook his head slightly. "I don't know." 

"Me neither," Lorelai said with a sleepy sigh, leaning against his shoulder.

"We could start by getting some sleep," Luke suggested.

"Mmm-hmm." Lorelai's eyes were closed.

"Not here."

"Just a minute," she mumbled.

"Okay." Luke rested his cheek on her head and closed his eyes too.

_Dream on together_

_Leaning against each other_

_However it happens I hope_

_It's whatever makes you happy_

_Whatever makes you happy _

Lorelai lifted her head off Luke's shoulder. Rays of sunlight streamed through the trees and hit her face. Those were mighty tall trees for Stars Hollow, Lorelai thought, looking around to discover that she was actually _in_ one of the trees, lying on a leafy bed nestled between the branches, with Luke curled up in a ball beside her.  

"I don't think we're in Kansas any more." Lorelai was suddenly very awake and wanted to get up and explore, but first she had to find out what happened to her clothes, because she was presently covered only by a flannel shirt that clearly belonged to Luke. She wondered where it had come from, as he'd been wearing sweats in the gazebo. Lorelai had always secretly liked the flannel. It was soft and comforting; yet somehow Luke managed to make it sexy and mysterious as well. She was always curious as to what was hiding beneath it. Looking around, Lorelai noted that the sleeping Luke was wearing pants, but there was no other clothing lying around their makeshift bed. All she could find was a bikini hanging from a tree branch, which would have to do. Lorelai made a mental note to pack something more substantial next time she planned on getting lost in the jungle.

Just as she finished pulling the bathing suit on, Luke sat up beside her. "Morning, beautiful." He hugged her close and drew lazy circles on her back.

Suddenly the rainforest didn't seem like such a bad place to be. Apparently she and Luke had spent the whole night doing it in a giant birds nest. Damn, thought Lorelai, you'd think she'd remember something like that. Luke was now kissing her neck and Lorelai brushed her hair out of the way to allow him better access. Thank god for repeats.

As his lips worked their way up towards her mouth, Lorelai was suddenly conscious of her morning breath. She pulled back. "Does this tree house come with an ensuite?"

Silently, Luke stood up, took her hand and jumped out of the tree.

_Splash_

The fall was short and they landed in a natural pool fed by a waterfall. Standing on the rocky bottom of the pool, the water was chest-level and the temperature was perfect. Lorelai stuck her tongue out to taste the clear water as it tumbled down on her, and then cupped her hands to catch a more substantial amount to drink. This was better than Evian any day, Lorelai thought as she soaked up the entire tropical atmosphere. _Awesome_.

*  *

Water cascaded over Luke's head and shoulders. He looked up at the waterfall, splashing over rocks. His arms were around Lorelai, her perfect body, clad only in a skimpy bikini, pressed against his. Luke brought his lips to meet hers in a passionate kiss. Her tongue slipped into his mouth straight away and her hands seemed to be everywhere at once, roaming all over his back and through his hair. Luke slid his hands below her waist and lifted Lorelai up to wrap her legs around his waist. She had on a very sexy bathing suit, but Luke decided she really didn't need to be wearing it right now. He began pulling at the strings of the top half as her tongue darted out of his mouth to lick the water off his cheek…

*  *

Okay, this was paradise, Lorelai decided as Luke pulled at her bikini top. Only the waterfall pounding them was dulling the sensation of Luke's kisses. No fair. She tugged at his shoulder, trying to get him to move them away from the spray…

"Ow!" Lorelai's head fell off Luke's shoulder as she shifted position. She awoke with a start and immediately a spray of water hit her in the face. The sprinkler system had activated. 

"The waterfall," Luke mumbled groggily, still in the process of waking up. 

_How did he know that?_ Lorelai wondered as she grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him out of the gazebo. "Why are the sprinklers going off in the middle of the night?" she cried as they ran across the soaked lawn. 

"Because logic dictates the square will be empty in the middle of the night."

"Since when has this town ever been run by logic?" 

Luke and Lorelai collapsed onto the steps of Miss Patty's and wiped water off their faces. Their clothes were damp, but not soaked through.

"How long were we napping for?" Lorelai asked. The square was still lit only by street lamps, with no sign of morning light in the dark sky.

Luke checked his watch. "Less than an hour."

Lorelai nodded and looked at him curiously. "Ah, did you… Never mind" she blushed and ducked her head, not noticing Luke's cheeks turning equally red.   
  


"I should get home. I have to talk to Nicole," Luke said. 

"Right. I'll talk to you later?" It was a tentative question rather than an authoritative statement.__

Luke nodded and they went their separate ways.

*  *  *  *

The next morning Lorelai awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. 

"Morning," Rory was sitting on the edge of her mother's bed waving a coffee mug under her nose.

Lorelai struggled into an upright position. "Morning, baby. Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Only every time I bring you coffee in bed." Rory handed over the mug.

"Which isn't nearly often enough." Lorelai took a sip. "So why this morning?"

"Do you remember last night?"

Lorelai nodded. "I was going to try and forget, but I talked to Luke."  
  


"At the party?"  
  


"No, later. I had a weird dream and Luke was in it so I went to talk to him."

"Need help with dream interpretation?" Rory asked.

"Nah, I think I've got it figured out. If I told you I had a dream that I was marrying Luke you'd probably tell me I'm jealous that he's getting married and not me, right?"  
  


"Or it could mean you want to marry Luke."  
  


"Why would you say that?"

"Did you see yourself last night? With the flirting and the skimpy, come-hither top that you were supposedly saving for a special occasion?"  
  


Lorelai winced. "Did I look really skanky and obvious? Was it a Demi Moore in _Striptease_ moment? How much therapy will you need?"

"None, and you looked great," Rory assured her. 

"Well I did consult my etiquette book. The rule is about not upstaging the bride on her wedding day; the engagement party is never mentioned."

"You are in love with Luke," Rory declared. "You upstage his fiancée, you dream you're getting married-"

"Slow down, Little Missy!" Lorelai cut her off. "Last time I dreamt about Luke we agreed it was a Chris and Sherry thing. This does not mean I'm in love with him. It could just be a reaction to what Nicole said last night. Dreams are strange things. Friends appear in bizarre situations all the time. Like once, I dreamt that Sookie was a dolphin trainer and we were at Sea World watching her show. She made Jackson act as her assistant, you know, the guy who stands in the water and hold up his arms for the dolphin to jump through. Only the dolphin didn't make it and ended up head-butting Jackson. Or nose-butting." Lorelai laughed. "Anyway, I think the dream was a product of Sookie's argument with our supplier about dolphin-friendly tuna. Hey, I'm getting really good at this analysis stuff!" 

"Mom!" Rory said impatiently. "What happened when you talked to Luke?"

"We acknowledged it!" Lorelai said happily.

"Acknowledged what?"  
  


"Our unhealthy co-dependence."

"I thought I was your unhealthy co-dependant?"

"Oh you're still my favorite, baby."

"Thank you. And congratulations on the Luke thing. So what does that mean exactly?"  
  


"I don't know."

"Well what happens now?" 

"I don't know," Lorelai repeated.

"But you feel good about this?"   
  


"Yes, I do." Lorelai smiled. "I thought if we ever said anything we'd, like, screw up the whole universe or something."

"I can't believe Luke finally admitted how he feels about you."  
  


"He didn't."

Rory's face fell.   
  


"Well, sort of," Lorelai amended. "But it wasn't a big mushy love scene. We basically just agreed that we have a unique relationship. It was actually closer to a let's-be-best-buddy's kind of thing." 

"But you recognized your Madonna/Rupert Everett connection?"  
  


"Whatever happened in that movie?" Lorelai asked suddenly.

"I don't know, we walked out halfway through," Rory reminded her.

"Smart us."

"If we were really smart we wouldn't have bought the tickets in the first place."

"True. But that means we don't know the connection."

"What about a Julia Roberts/Rupert Everett connection?" Rory tried.

"Okay, we really have to stop comparing Luke to Rupert Everett," Lorelai decided.

"I'm sorry! But straight best friends always end up together," Rory said. "Are you and Luke going to get together?" 

"I don't _know._" Lorelai buried her head in a pillow. "I don't even know if that's what I want," she said in a muffled voice before sitting up again. "Besides which, he's engaged." 

"Not for long, by the sounds of it."

Lorelai shook her head firmly. "I'm trying not to read too much into this. It could mean nothing."  
  


"Or it could mean everything," Rory gave her a meaningful look. "Are you _sure_ nothing else happened with you and Luke last night?"

"We just talked. Then fell asleep in the gazebo and I had another dream."  
  


"Ooh, what was this one about?" 

"This was the kind of dream that you really shouldn't hear about if you ever want to be able to look and Luke or I in the same light again."

Rory appeared grateful. "'Nuff said."

"The really freaky part is I think he had the same dream."

"No way. I don't believe that," Rory said firmly. 

"Well I'd get you some proof, but I don't really want to walk into the diner and say 'Hey, Luke did you have a dirty dream about us having wild sex in the middle of the jungle?'"

Rory made a show of being suitably grossed out by that admission before giving Lorelai a teasing grin. "You're in luurrrrve."

Lorelai set her coffee cup on the bedside table, pulled the pillow out from behind her head and hit her daughter with it.

"Hey!' Rory grabbed another pillow and hit Lorelai back.

Thirty seconds later they were both collapsed on the bed.

"We need to work on our stamina," Lorelai mumbled into the mattress.

"Mom?" 

"Yeah?" Lorelai rolled onto her back and hugged her pillow to her chest.

"Why the jungle?"  
  


Lorelai threw the pillow at Rory.

*  *  *  *

Luke was watching Nicole wake up. She had been fast asleep when he returned to the apartment last night, so Luke had decided to wait until morning to have 'the talk.' 

"Hey," he said when Nicole opened her eyes.

She seemed please to see him. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here when I woke up."

"Where else would I be?"

Nicole shrugged. "It was a weird night." She got out of bed and padded toward the bathroom.

"We need to talk." Luke said.

"One minute." Nicole needed to pee, brush her teeth and swallow half a packet of aspirin before she could face this conversation.

Luke was sitting on the bed, waiting, when she finished in the bathroom and Nicole sat down beside him. She considered giving him a kiss, but the look on his face told her he had something more important on his mind. The feeling in the pit of her stomach warned her that she might not like what he had to say, so Nicole got in first. "I didn't mean what I said last night," she said quickly. "I was really tired, just forget it. And while you're at it, can we please forget everything I said at the party as well?"

"It's not really about any of that. Nicole, why are we getting married?" Luke asked.

"What do you mean why are we getting married?" Nicole began listing reasons. "We like each other, we get along well, the timing's right..."

"What do you mean the timing's right?"

_Confession time_, thought Nicole. She took a deep breath. "Okay, ever since I was 17 I've had my life all planned out – law school, job with a good firm, professional life on track. Family-wise, I'd be married by 30, work part time for a year while I had my first and only child then go back to work and make partner by 36."

"So whoever you're dating at 30, that's it? Music stops, and you happened to be stuck with me?"

"Of course not, Luke. We've been together for six months with no problems. We work."

_Crunch time_, thought Luke. He shook his head. "I don't think we do. Not any more."

"I shouldn't have told you."

"It's not because of that. It's not because of anything you did."

"'It's not you, it's me,' right?" Nicole asked with a disgusted glint in her eye. For a moment she felt the urge to blow up and turn this into a fierce screaming match, but forced herself to remain calm.

"It's both of us," Luke said firmly. "We would have had a sucky marriage, Nicole. Was divorce by 34 in your plan as well?"

"You'd be a good husband, I can tell. Loyal, caring-"

"But don't you want the chance to find someone you really love?"

Nicole was offended that he apparently thought so little of their relationship. "Do you think I'm so desperate I'd just pick up anyone off the street to marry? I do love you, Luke."

"I know, I didn't mean it like that. I mean _really_ love. Not someone you happen to be dating when it's time for stage three of your life plan."

"You make it sound so cold."

"It _feels_ cold." Luke had finally figured it out. "We're convenient. Which is maybe okay when you're looking for a date on Saturday night, but not when you're looking for someone to marry. We took it too far."

"This can work," Nicole pleaded, but her heart wasn't really in it. He was right, she didn't love him enough. Tears began sliding down Nicole's cheeks, but they weren't tears of hurt and anguish, they were tears of regret and sadness. "I'm sorry."

Luke was uncomfortable with the crying. He wasn't sure whether to look away or hug her, but they'd never really had that kind of affectionate relationship so Luke just patted her on the shoulder somewhat awkwardly. "Hey, don't cry. And don't apologize, I didn't mean to make you feel guilty. It's not your fault." 

Nicole nodded and wiped her face. "Let's just call it even," she suggested. "I really care about you, Luke, but you're right. I should find someone I can love in a way that I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without him. We both deserve that chance. You're just lucky you already know her." Nicole squeezed his hand. "I should go."

"Stay," said Luke. "You probably shouldn't drive home yet. I'll bring you up some breakfast."

"Thanks," Nicole said gratefully. "I wouldn't mind taking a shower." 

"You know where everything is." Luke stood up and headed for the door. "I have to get downstairs."

Nicole nodded. "Luke?" she called suddenly, just as he was opening the door. "You know why I proposed, but why did you say yes?" 

Luke stopped and turned around. He didn't have an answer but Nicole didn't appear to require one. "Just something for you to think about," she said.

Just what he needed, something else to think about. "So what do you want for breakfast?"   
  


*  *  *  *

"Bacon and eggs. With extra bacon, and extra toast, and extra egg too," Lorelai ordered. 

The diner was packed, but Rory and Lorelai managed to grab two seats at the counter for breakfast. 

A harried-looking Luke barely glanced at Lorelai as she placed her order. He set the coffee pot on the counter in front of them. "Help yourselves to coffee, I'll take your orders after I've done the bill for that huge table over there." 

"Feel the love," Lorelai said dryly as she poured coffee for Rory and herself.

"Who's feeling what love?" Miss Patty, who happened to be sitting beside them, asked.

"No one," Lorelai said quickly. 

"Unless you count mom's newfound love for the rainforest," Rory smirked. Lorelai elbowed her.

"Okay, I'm back." Luke pulled out his order pad. "Lorelai wants bacon and eggs, what about you, Rory?"  
  


"Pancakes, please, Luke," Rory requested.

"And mine was _extra_ bacon and eggs," Lorelai reminded him.

"Yours is always extra."

"So, Lorelai, any particular reason for this new love of the rainforest?" Miss Patty asked. 

"No. Just, you know, the, ah, trees, and, um…"

*cough* "Tarzan fetish" *cough* 

"Did you say something, dear?" Miss Patty asked Rory.

Lorelai and Luke both understood perfectly and exchanged panicked glances before fixing glares on Rory.

"No," Rory smiled innocently. "Coffee just went down the wrong way."

Luke took the mug off Rory. "Wouldn't want that to happen again."

"Hey!" she protested. "Mom, you can't let him get away with that."

But for once Lorelai was on Luke's side about the confiscated coffee. "You can have it back when you've finished with the _Jungle Book_ references."

Miss Patty looked perplexed, she'd been hoping for gossip from the party last night. 

"But I haven't even started yet," Rory complained.

"Did you ever think that maybe you trained her too well?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"Frequently."

*  *

After breakfast Lorelai and Rory were about to leave when Luke pulled the elder Gilmore aside. "Can I talk to you? It'll only take a minute."

"I'll be outside," said Rory.

Lorelai stood expectantly in front of Luke, but he was just staring at her hair, fascinated; wondering how could it be so dead straight today after being all curly last night.

"Luke?" she prompted, waving a hand in front of his face. "Did you want to tell me something?"  
  


"Uh, yeah. I just wanted to tell you that Nicole and I aren't getting married anymore." He said it as casually as if he were reciting the daily specials.

Lorelai gave him a look of sympathy and concern. "Are you okay?" 

"Sure. But hey, I'm sorry about all the trouble you went to with the engagement party."

"It's no trouble."

"Well, you know, all that effort just seems like kind of a waste now." Luke looked out the window where the clean up team was working.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh, absolutely. I'm fine." Luke shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans

"Okay. Well do you want to do something tonight? Rory's got plans with her friends, so you could come over and we could have something to eat, maybe watch a movie, talk, whatever."

"Uh, thanks, but I have to work."  
  


"It's Sunday. Quietest night of the week."

"Still." Luke rocked backward and forward slightly, avoiding her gaze.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you around then." Hurt, Lorelai turned and walked out of the diner slowly, pausing momentarily at the door in the hope that he would call her back. She looked over her shoulder, but Luke had disappeared into the kitchen. With a disgruntled sigh, Lorelai pushed open the door and joined Rory on the street outside. "Do I have idiot stamped on my forehead?" she asked her daughter, who pretended to inspect.  
  


"No, but you are getting a zit," she said helpfully. "What did Luke say?" Rory asked as they began walking down the street.

"They're not getting married."

"And this upsets you because?"  
  


"He didn't want to talk to me," Lorelai complained. "I mean, I don't think he broke off the engagement just because of me. I would never want him to do that. But, I don't know, he made this decision after we talked so I though that might have had _something_ to do with it."  
  


"Not an unreasonable assumption."

"Thank you. But evidently not because he's all 'here's your coffee, oh; by the way, I've just broken up with my fiancée. That's $1.50, have a nice day.'"  
  


"Maybe he just needs some time," Rory suggested.

"You're right," Lorelai agreed. "Of course you're right." She frowned. "But I'm still hurt. If nothing else, I'm his friend, Rory. I thought we could be there for each other at times like this." Lorelai was gesturing expressively as she spoke and failed to pay attention to where she was walking. Rory had to pull her out of the path of a tree.

"Hey George, watch out for that tree!" she said with a smirk.

Lorelai grimaced. "How long are you going to milk that for?"

"I figure it's good for a least three more days."

"Evil child!" 

They continued down the street with Rory humming the _George of the Jungle_ theme.

*  *  *  *

TBC

Lyric credits: Jack Johnson and Powderfinger

Author's Confession: Uh, that's pretty much all I had. There is a tiny bit more written, but it needs to multiply by at least five to become a fully-grown chapter. So I'm just gonna sit here and wait for inspiration to smack me in the head. Feel free to help it out.


	7. Ch 7

AN: Well I don't know about smacked in the head, but in my infinite wisdom I managed to accidentally lock myself in the bathroom while I was home alone the other night, leaving plenty of time to write this chapter in my head (I figured lipstick on the mirror might be hard to clean off) before I eventually climbed out the second story window, onto the fence, around a tree, jumped into my neighbor's courtyard and ran back home; hopefully before they noticed. And all in my floral patchwork Peter Alexander PJs. I felt like a character out of a Bridget Jones type novel. At least I wasn't locked out and could recover from the experience with the help of a tub of Cape Byron ice cream and a can of Dairy Whip. 

Oneiromancy

Part Seven

_This town makes my mind slow down_

_Got lines on my face like highways now_

_Chasing breezes kicking boulders_

_And all of the while just getting older_

"Lorelai dear," Miss Patty called. 

Lorelai ducked her head and walked faster. It had been over a week since Luke had broken off the engagement with Nicole and the news had spread rapidly. With Luke revealing nothing, Lorelai had found herself inundated with questions from the curious townspeople.

"Lorelai," Miss Patty repeated and she caught up to her in front of the market. 

_Damn_, thought Lorelai, that woman could move surprisingly quickly for someone of her stature. She turned to face Patty. "For the hundredth time, I don't know anything, it had nothing to do with me."

"I was just going to ask if you wanted to chip in for Babette's birthday present." Patty said innocently.

Lorelai gave her a suspicious look. "Sure you were."

"But while I have you attention…" _here it comes_, thought Lorelai. "Have you spoken to Luke lately?" Miss Patty asked. "He's been even gruffer than usual since he broke up with Nicole, which we don't understand, as we have it on good authority that _he_ was the one who broke off the engagement…"

"Mom!" Rory waved from across the street.

"Rory!" _Thank God_, Lorelai added silently. "Gotta go, bye Patty." Lorelai crossed the road and gave her daughter a grateful hug. "You are a lifesaver! Without the high-cut red bathing suit and quadruple D cup boobs."

"Patty prowling again?" Rory asked sympathetically.

Lorelai nodded. "Hey, Prowling Patty, I like it."

"Alliteration with multiple connotations."  
  


"Indeed. Hey, I need food," Lorelai announced.

"Diner's right across the street."

"Or alternatively, we could get some non-pancakes from Al's," Lorelai suggested.

Rory gave her a funny look. "I thought you and Luke weren't fighting?" The girls had been eating meals at Luke's as usual, but conversation between Luke and Lorelai had never ventured beyond what type of fries she wanted with her burger.

"We're not fighting. We're just not exactly talking."

"Why not?"

"Such a good question. In fact, I'd be much obliged if you'd go right in there and ask him that very thing."

"You're being silly," Rory said.

"Do you want Luke and I to get together?" Lorelai asked suddenly.  
  


Rory appeared mildly surprised at the question. "I hadn't formed an opinion."  
  


"Come on, the entire town has formed an opinion, you don't want to be the odd one out."

"I like Luke. You know I like Luke," Rory said. "And if you want to be with Luke; which I think you do, then yes, I want you to get together."  
  


"You once told me I couldn't date him," Lorelai reminded Rory.

"That was a long time ago," Rory reminded Lorelai in return. "I just keep thinking that you sounded happy about your talk with Luke the night before he broke up with Nicole."

"I was happy, before he went Mr Freeze on me. Okay. I'm going to talk to him today," Lorelai decided, looking determinedly at the diner. "Really talk."

"That's great." Rory gave her mother a supportive smile. "I'll give you fifteen minutes then meet you in there for lunch."  
  


"Are you sure you don't want to come in first? If things don't go well, this may be the last Luke meal we ever eat."

"You have reasons to think things won't go well?" Rory asked.  
  


"None that you'd consider reasonable," Lorelai admitted.  
  


"Then get over there. I'm not giving you a whole meal to mull this over and then chicken out."  
  


Lorelai snickered. "'Mull.'"

"Go!" Rory said sternly.

Lorelai complied and crossed the street to the diner just as Luke was loading a fishing rod and tackle box onto the back of his truck. "What's going on?" she asked him.

"I'm taking a few of days off," he answered simply. 

"Oh." _No excuses_, Lorelai reminded herself. "Luke, can we talk?"

"I'll be back in a week, tops."

"Before you go."

"I'm just about to leave."

"It's important."

"Important like the time you called me to come over in the middle of the night because there was a stranger in your house?"

"Well there was!"

"It was a spider."  
  


Lorelai frowned. "Trust you to make an example out of the one time I may have embellished a little."

"I've got more."  
 

Lorelai changed tactics. "I'll chain myself to your truck," she threatened. This was not the way this conversation was supposed to go.  
  


"Fine." Luke rolled his eyes. "Come upstairs while I finish packing the food."

_Yeah I was hiding away under water_

_Waiting for distance and buying some time_

_Trying to be two hundred thousand years younger_

_So I could excuse myself from human kind_

Lorelai followed Luke upstairs to his apartment and watched with fascination as he pulled a container of worms from the freezer.

He noticed her expression. "It's bait, not dinner."

"But you're packing it in the same box as your dinner."

Luke sighed. "What did you want to talk to me about?"  
  


"Everything! Your breakup with Nicole, our conversation in the gazebo. Why are you going away?"

"I need a break; time to think. We can talk when I get back."

"I know a broken engagement is no fun, Luke, but you don't have to forego human company all together."

"You went on an road trip, I'm going fishing."

"But who will make my coffee?" Even as the words left her mouth, Lorelai was aware of how selfish and immature they sounded.

"Caesar will get you coffee," Luke said, his back to her as he pulled tins from the cupboard.

"I didn't mean that Luke." Lorelai sighed. "I just wish you'd talk to me." 

"Okay, fine." Luke spun around to face her and crossed his arms over his chest. "What would you like to hear? That Nicole calls me every night and alternates between crying because she's just remembered that she has to cancel the engagement party invitations her parents ordered, and yelling abuse at me because she now has to tell her second cousin Paula that she isn't getting married and Paula is apparently an evil bitch who will gloat about the moment for years to come. And either way I feel guilty as hell." 

"You didn't tell me it was a bad breakup." Lorelai wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort him, but Luke didn't look like he'd be very appreciative of the gesture. 

"It wasn't. But we were _engaged_, Lorelai. She just doesn't disappear from my life as quickly as she does from yours. Just because we both agree that things wouldn't have worked out in the long run doesn't erase the past six months."

"I'm so sorry, Luke," Lorelai said softly.

But he didn't want her apologies. "I have to leave now if I want to get there before dark." Luke lifted the box of food with one arm, crossed the room, and stood expectantly outside the open apartment door.

Lorelai exited the apartment. "Where are you going?" she asked.  
  


"Same place I always go fishing. No where you know," Luke replied as he locked the door.

"I'm not going to follow you!" Lorelai followed him downstairs.  
  


"Goodbye, Lorelai," he said flatly.

Lorelai slumped down at a table and followed Luke's every move as he gave Caesar some last minute instructions then walked from the kitchen to the diner door without so much as a glance in her direction. Through the window, she watched him slam the truck door closed and unceremoniously drive off down the main street.

  
  
__

_'Cause I don't want to be a container_

_Or a bastard with a ten-page disclaimer_

_But these monsters spin me around_

Rory entered the diner ten minutes later to find Lorelai still staring glumly out the window, nursing a barely-touched cup of coffee. "Where's Luke?" she asked.

"Gone fishin'," Lorelai said dourly.

"Do we hate him now?"

Lorelai shook her head.

"But I take it the talk didn't go as planned?"

Lorelai extended her index finger and slowly pointed to her heart. "Ouch."

Rory took this to mean that Lorelai didn't really want to talk about it. "Let's get out of here. We'll skip the burgers for lunch and pick up a hideous amount junk food, even by our standards, on the way home to a 12 hour movie marathon."

"Including _E.T._?"

"Including _E.T._," Rory confirmed.

Lorelai gave a small smile and allowed Rory to lead her out of the diner. 

*  *  *  *

The week seemed to pass incredibly slowly and by Friday Lorelai felt like Penelope awaiting Odysseus' return. "Maybe I should take up knitting," she suggested to Sookie as she ate breakfast prepared by her friend. 

"Haven't heard from Luke, huh?" Sookie asked as she served Lorelai another slice of bacon.

"He went fishing, Sook. He went to be alone. Far away from Lorelai the annoying, insensitive, gnat-like creature."

"He doesn't think of you that way."

"Well I'm not expecting a postcard or phone call. Although I did have a dream about him last night, maybe he's trying to communicate telepathically."  
  


"Was it a dirty dream?" Sookie asked, with a touch too much enthusiasm for Lorelai's liking.  
  


"No! Will that always be your first question?"

"I'm still getting over the Tarzan thing."

"Does the whole town know about that?"  
  


"Rory did tease you for three straight days."

"But she promised it would remain a private joke."  
  


"It did until I bribed her with cheesecake," Sookie confessed. "As much as I don't want the visual, I have to ask – was he wearing a loincloth?"

"Sookie! No!" Lorelai scolded.  

"Sorry, sweetie. Okay, what was this dream about?"

"It was the final scene of _Casablanca_. Only I was Rick and Luke was Ilsa."

"And Nicole was Victor Lazlo?" Sookie guessed.

"No, Victor Lazlo was a giant fish."

"How did a giant fish get onto a plane?" Sookie asked, envisaging a fish launching off its tail to jump up the stairs.

"It wasn't a plane, it was a boat and the fish just kind of threw itself off the dock."

"So it was basically nothing like the final scene of _Casablanca_."

"The sentiment was there."  
  


"Luke left you to be with a fish? That's a pretty thinly veiled metaphor. In fact it's not even a metaphor, it's exactly what happened. I thought dreams were supposed to be harder to figure out. Like dreaming about a tunnel really means you want to have sex with your husband's best friend."

"Isn't Jackson's best friend that creepy grocer guy?" Lorelai asked.

"I wasn't talking about me specifically, it's just one of those Freudian things."

"Everything was about sex with Freud," Lorelai commented. 

"He was a disturbed man," Sookie agreed before returning to the topic at hand. "I hope Luke comes back soon," she offered.

"Me too. But I understand why he went. I guess I needed time to think too. Only then I actually think, and things get really messy."

"Come to any conclusions?"

"Only that I'm selfish. I want Luke to be there for me and I don't want to share him with anyone else. Only I don't necessarily want to be with him myself. Or maybe I just don't want to risk everything we have. I couldn't handle losing him again."

"You're not going to lose him. You both know how much you mean to each other."

"Rory thinks I'm in love," Lorelai admitted.

"Everyone thinks you and Luke are in love, honey, where have you been?"

"We have…something," Lorelai admitted. "Some special connection, I know I love him, but I'm not sure in what way."

"In the way you love someone when you have erotic dreams about them."

"That's not love, that's lust."  
  


"But if your put together friendship love and lust you have romantic love, and awww your kids are gonna be so beautiful!" Sookie clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Not if he never gets back from this stupid fishing trip. It's been five days! If he stays much longer he'll have fished out the whole stream," Lorelai complained. "I just want to talk to him, Sookie. I miss Luke." Lorelai rested her head in her hands and felt a lone tear of frustration prick the corner of her eye. 

Sookie stood behind her friend and massaged her shoulders. "Should I make more cheesecake?"

Lorelai looked up hopefully. "Couldn't hurt."

*  *  *  * 

TBC

Lyrics: Something for Kate (my feature artist this week) - _Happy Endings_ and _Monsters_

AN: Yes, I know this chapter is considerably shorter than previous ones, but the obsessive-compulsive in me demanded the final scene have it's own chapter to make it an even eight. I'll post the ending tomorrow, not because I'm mean, or because I'm fishing(!) for more reviews (that's just low), but because it's late and I can't be bothered formatting another chapter right now. 

To Luke Rules; fear not, as per your suggestion Luke will show up to Lorelai's house to, ahem, talk.


	8. Ch 8

AN: Since this is the last chapter, I just want to take the opportunity to thank all the reviewers out there. I love hearing from you guys. 

Chevie Jane: Yeps, I'm an Aussie :) We rock. Just read your profile – love the _Looking for Alibrandi_ "I'll run to be emancipated" bit – it's probably my all-time favourite book. I've read it countless times but it still never fails to make me both laugh and cry.

Ruby Garnet: Thank you! I have a tendency to skip around excitedly after reading your work too.

Jewls: As always, your reviews inspire me.

Coolio02; Luke Rules, distortedstar, rorynjess4ever, jael, Sweetie and everyone else who consistently reviewed – it's encouraging.

And I'd like to thank my mum, and my dad, and my third grade teacher, and of course the academy and everyone who voted for me… *sniff* Oh my god, this is just such an honour! *sniff* ;p 

Excuse my excitement, I'm just about to witness one of the biggest football games of the season. Oh, right, the story… Here go.

Oneiromancy

Part Eight

_Previously:_

_"Where's Luke?" Rory asked._

_"Gone fishin,'" Lorelai said dourly_

_"Do we hate him now?"_

* *

_"…It's been five days! If he stays much longer he'll have fished out the whole stream," Lorelai complained. "I just want to talk to him, Sookie. I miss Luke." _

_"Should I make more cheesecake?"_

_"Couldn't hurt."_

* * * * 

Late Saturday afternoon, Lorelai was outside struggling with a large bottle filled with water when Rory appeared at the open kitchen door. 

"Rory, you really need to get a new boyfriend soon. One who, unlike Jess, will change the water bottle of us," Lorelai complained.

"Do you want me to help you?" Rory offered.

Lorelai waved her off. "No, I think we'd only get in each other's way. I foresee a Three Stooges moment."

"You, me and my imaginary sister?"

"Exactly. Mowena can be so klutzy sometimes."

"You named your imaginary daughter Mowena?"

"No, I let you name her. You were only three at the time. So were you looking for me just now?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"Yeah, I just wanted to say bye. I'm going to Lane's and then on to watch her band play in Hartford tonight. They're on early because Lane has to get home, but she's thrilled anyway."  
  


"Okay, sweets. Have fun and pick us up a cute groupie each, but be sure to test for water bottle changing skills first."

"I will," Rory promised. "Bye Mom. Remember, no moping and don't eat all the cheesecake."

Lorelai lifted the water bottle again with a grunt. Maybe she needed some of Sookie's cheesecake to sustain her. She was just about to drop bottle back on the bench and take a coffee break when strong arms lifted it from her. Familiar, flannel covered arms. Luke was back, doing and even better mountain man impression than usual.

"Jeez you're sneaky, I nearly had a heart attack," Lorelai complained as she followed Luke inside and watched him set the bottle on the cooler. "Thank you."

"No problem," Luke grunted.

"So you're back," Lorelai commented unnecessarily.

"I'm back," Luke confirmed, equally unnecessarily. 

"How was fishing?" she asked.

"From whose perspective, mine or the fish?" 

"Either."

"They won."

"Oh. Well did you get a chance to think?"

"Yeah."

"Have any dreams?"

They were both dancing nervously around on opposite sides of her kitchen. Lorelai pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down. "Sit," she ordered Luke.

He took a seat on the opposite side of the table and looked around for something to fidget with, but for once the Gilmore kitchen table was clean. Luke settled for occupying his hands by playing with the cuffs of his flannel shirt. "You know I wasn't mad at you, right? I just needed some time."

"I know. But Luke, you have to talk to me." Lorelai placed her palms flat on the table and fixed an unyielding gaze on him.

"I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without you," Luke blurted out, diving straight in. "That's the one thing I know."

"I feel the same way. I know I love you, Luke. But that doesn't mean we're in love. Maybe we're just freakishly good friends and it's too late for us ever to be anything more."

"Then why is there this feeling that we could be?"

"Because we've never tried. We need sex," said Lorelai.

"What?" Luke was having a Nicole flashback.

"We have sex and if it's good then we're clearly meant to be together, but if it's not, then we're obviously just good friends. Oh well, thanks for trying."

Luke gave her a frustrated look.

"Okay, I'm sorry, dumb idea. But I don't know, Luke. That's pretty much my phrase of the week. I don't know what's between us, I don't know how you feel, I don't even know how I feel. But we haven't gone through all this to have it lead no where."

"What if it doesn't work out? What if we end up hating each other and never talk again?" Luke had always thought he'd jump at the opportunity of being with Lorelai, in any way, shape or form, but for some reason his brain was refusing to set his heart free.  
  


"And what if the sky falls in and we all choke to death on fluffy, white clouds?" Lorelai asked.

Luke stood up. He didn't think his concerns were _that_ ridiculous. "I'm sorry, I should go. I'm not ready for this. I guess there are still too many questions I don't have answers to." He walked toward the door.

_'Cause baby can't see through_

_All this matter and makeup and déjà vu_

_Yeah we drift here alone, with nothing to do_

_Until one of us makes the other one come true_

"Luke," Lorelai called, standing up also.

He turned and took several steps back into the room. She met him halfway.

"You think too much." Lorelai grabbed his arm, pulled him close and, without hesitation, brought her lips to his. Her kiss was firm and purposeful, yet not rough or demanding. She tasted the way she did in his dreams, like the minty freshness of her toothpaste could never quite eradicate the richer, ever-present coffee flavor.

The actual kiss was brief, but Lorelai didn't move away immediately, remaining on tiptoes, her hand still grasping his arm. "Gotcha." She whispered against his lips. 

Luke hadn't moved at all. He hadn't returned her kiss, but hadn't pulled away either, so Lorelai kissed him again. And Luke responded this time, albeit tentatively at first. 

Her hand pulled his arm behind her back, bringing him closer. Luke took the hint and wrapped both arms around her waist, holding her near. Lorelai reached her arms around his neck to give herself leverage as the kiss grew deeper. It passed the initial awkward stage of discovery and adjustment of techniques, progressed through the sweet, amiable stage – enjoyable, yet not entirely satisfying – to the full-blown, mind-boggling, is-that-your-tongue-or-mine? stage. 

Eventually, air was required.

"Wow," Lorelai pulled back just far enough so that she could see Luke's whole face. Her skin was tingling from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes. "Luke, that- I-" 

Luke smiled. "Shh." He silenced her affectionately and touched a finger to her glowing cheek. "You talk too much." 

Luke initiated the kiss this time, and, if possible, it was even more intense than the previous one. When they finally pulled back and looked into each other's eyes, an unspoken agreement was immediately reached. Lorelai took both Luke's hands in hers and led him upstairs.

* *

"This isn't just a test," Lorelai said huskily, as she pushed him down onto the bed and lowered herself on top of him. "I want you to know, it's not an experiment to me. I really want this. I want you."  
  


"Good," was the last thing he said before their lips met again. 

And this time Lorelai _was_ demanding. She kissed him with a fierce intensity and commanded everything he had to give. And Luke was just as eager to share it all with her.

But this wasn't paradise. This was Lorelai's cluttered bedroom and unmade bed. There was no roaring fire or scented candles, unless you counted the melted remains on her dresser, wax hardened in position where it had begun to drip down the side.

And it wasn't impossibly perfect, like in the movies. There were no wafting curtains or soft piano music in the background. Lorelai wasn't wearing matching underwear. 

And Luke wasn't a romantic hero. He smelt like fish and hadn't shaved for a week. He didn't expertly slip her clothes off and tell her she was beautiful. He didn't have to say anything; she could see it in his eyes. The realization, longing, fear, wonder, and love. 

And it wasn't magical. It was occasionally awkward and messy. But it was real, and that made it infinitely better than any fantasy either of them could have concocted. 

_She said these questions don't answer like other questions do_

_So just let me be here with you_

* * * *

END

Lyrics: Something for Kate, _Déjà vu_.

Okay, that's it. This was never intended to be an epic. 

If you have thoughts, please share. (I don't even care if they have nothing to do with the story!)


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